CM Simpson: Writer & Gamer

Better this week. Slowly recovering from the flu, slowly organising time so I can get the writing I need to get done, done. Still working my way through a beta read, but I was told it was less urgent, so I’ve slowed. I only skipped one class this week, due to not feeling well. And, as you can see, I’ve started working my way through the outstanding tiers. I probably won’t be where I hoped to be at the end of the year, but I’ll come close. I’m still on track for writing, publishing or revising 1,000,000 words this year, and most of my earlier work is out. Next year, I expect my tempo to slow as I wrap my head around producing more completely new, written-from-scratch projects. Two of those are currently under way and on track, and there are more in the pipeline, but who knows what the new year will bring. Hey, right now, I don’t even know what the day job will bring—but, if I knew it all, life would be pretty boring, right? Right? For those of you who write, I hope this is helpful—and,...

Score Card At the beginning of the year, I laid out a writing and release plan. It went through two changes before I put it into action… and then it went through a third before the end of the quarter. The following score card is based on the goals as they were before the third change: 1 dark fantasy: 3 completed, 2 released; 1 romance novel: 1 completed, 1 released ; 1 annual: not completed; 1 novella: 1 completed, 1 released; 1 chapter book: 4 revised and released (but only 1  illustrated as originally planned); 0 short stories: 6 revised and released. What I learned. I have discovered that goals change, as plans progress and we learn how to do things better or differently. So, here’s what I’ve learnt in the first quarter of 2013: My initial release plan was okay, but did not let me respond to areas that sales showed my readers were interested in. I changed it, and the new tiered system is working fine… for now. Writing new words is different to preparing ...

Some of you have expressed interest in the formatting and editing process I use for my work. It’s long and repetitive, and can be considered boring, but it’s an essential part of the indie process—at least for me. Firstly, I edit every day by going over the work completed the day before so I can reposition myself in the story and pick up any errors made. This process is continual throughout the writing. This process is essential for me as I work on more than one project at a time and need to ‘re-set’ when I change from one to the other. When the story is complete, I try to leave it to one side for at least a fortnight before going back and doing one or two edits. I am hoping to add at least one Beta reader to this process. At this time, I have usually commissioned the cover art, depending on the artist—some require a longer lead time than others. This break from the manuscript helps me to come back to the edit with some distance between me and the writing. This process of di...