Pulp Speed Writing Day 7

I decided on Day 7 to finish Spilling Blood Season 3‘s layout for the paperback. And I did! Yay me!

Then I turned my attention to my Work in Progress.

It was my intention to finish it on Day 7, but I instead introduced 3 new characters. Complete with story arcs.

But it is making the ending far more lively. I’m thinking the book is going to be around 55k to 60k now.

So anyway, back to the day’s accomplishments…

Day 7: 

  • SBS3‘s paperback layout is finished.
  • I wrote 2,616 new words to my WIP. No polishing/editing/revising of previously written material.

Week 1:

Word Count: 10,947.

 

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Pulp Speed Writing Day 6

I had a limited window yesterday to write, and wasted some of that thinking about a couple of plot holes that needed to be turned into story arcs. They’re not really plot holes, but I have a few secondary protagonists and antagonists that need more time in the sun.

Though this is making a longer book, it also increases the amount of time I need to finish the book. I guess I should be happy writing a book focusing just on one or two characters, but for now, I’m going to follow where it takes me.

Which means I don’t see myself finishing it on Day 7.

I think my battle plan is going to still to focus all my energies on finishing this book, maybe wrapping it up by Wednesday. I have a few hours Sunday and Monday, but Tuesday is not going to be accommodating.

I may or may not finish the Spilling Blood Season 3 paperback layout on Day 7. I guess I should give it a half hour…

So yesterday I didn’t do any revising or editing, in my short window, I instead tried to squeeze in some word count by writing the story arcs mentioned above. In the half an hour I had, I wrote 734 words.

 

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Pulp Speed Writing Day 5

I’m writing this well into Day 6, because it’s Saturday, and Saturdays are not conducive to writing. So I’m going to try and keep this short, because tonight’s going to have slim opportunity for progress.

Day 5 was productive, as I expected. Though I progressed far less than the day before, I actually wrote more. yesterday’s word count was 2,310, and actual polishing/writing/revising/editing is a total of 6,242. The goal was 7k+, but oh well.

The Work in Progress that I’m trying to complete on Day 7 is at 35,150 words that I’m happy with. There’s another 15k of words needing attention, and I know there’s a few new chapters that don’t exit that I need to bring to light.

I would be happy with the final draft of this book hitting around 50k to 55k words.

Am I worried? Yes, a little. I think I’m going to go a day or two over on my goal, which I guess isn’t such a big deal, since this is Week 1 for working my progress up toward Pulp Fiction writing speed. I still intend to be disappointed in myself. 🙂

I’ll do a book reveal and cover reveal once this first draft is finished.

Oh! I also worked on the Spilling Blood Season 3 paperback! I may be able to wrap up the layout portion tomorrow. *Yes! Fist pump!*

As for next week, I’m thinking about doing a rewrite on Hungry Gods Book 3, which again won’t give me high word counts (since it’s already written), but needs lots of love. It would be nice to let it see the light of day.

 

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Pulp Speed Writing Day 4

Four days in and I’ve managed to show up every day. Yay me!

Day 4 has some decent productivity. Though I only generated 1,532 new words for my word count, I revised/edited/wrote a total of 10,783 words. This brings me to a total of  28,154 words on my current Work in Progress.Though I don’t know what the final word count will be, I’m guessing between 45k to 55k. I still have Day 5 and Day 7 where I should be able to put up some good numbers (but Day 6 is gonna be difficult).

Though I don’t know what the final word count will be, I’m guessing between 45k to 55k. I still have Day 5 and Day 7 where I should be able to put up some good numbers (but Day 6 is gonna be difficult).

I chose not to mess with the Spilling Blood Season 3 paperback, and that’s a problem. I’ve got to find time to get it done. I have to admit, however, the idea of finishing my WIP actually creates a bit of stress. It’s not the same as creating a 10k or 20k book in a week. There’s a huge time investment, which means other interests take a backseat (like playing guitar).

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Pulp Speed Day 3

Day 3’s actual new word count was a pittance at 621 words. I did, however, make it through 3,264 words, which is alright. I’m through 17,369 words in the WIP.

Word 365 also did some freaky stuff when I was about done for the day. Suddenly, I couldn’t save anything, and the program kept saying there was some type of certificate error, or it had expired or something. I dunno. Anyway, I managed to save it to the desktop before Word crashed. Excel was having similar issues.

Day 4 looks promising. I’m going to try and get through 7k words or more.

I also need to take time to further the Spilling Blood Season 3 paperback. Indie Author Day is coming up next month, and it would be nice to have a couple of new paperbacks to sell at the event.

I also received a nice review for Soul Sister. You should read the review. You should definitely read the book.

Excerpt:

Garth Wright has written a very well crafted story in his novel Soul Sister. It’s uncommon to read a horror/ supernatural story and discover a depth of emotional intensity like the reader will encounter in this tale. The author writes the troubled emotional life of his lead character, Mia, with the confidence of someone who knows what depression does to the lives of its victims. Wright also helps his readers to understand that Mia is not the only person victimized by her depression, but that everyone in her life is touched by the lurking shadows, including her father, who passed his shadows to his daughter.

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Pulp Speed Writing Day 2

I’m still writing this post later than I wanted to because, sleep. Anyway, I’m on schedule to finish on August 14th, but barely, and only because I have a lot of material written already.

My writing, revising, and editing has me going a little slower than I’d like, but I have more free time on Thursday and Friday (at the moment). I only added 1,017 new words to the book, but wrote/revised/edited a total of 3,788, so the progress was there. Not quite up to the 5k I’m targeting, but productive nonetheless, and heading in the right direction.

Of the current 45k word count in my WIP, 14k of it is polished now.

 

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Pulp Fiction Writing Day 1

Yesterday was officially Day 1 of my attempt to be a pulp writer. Day 1 of decades’ worth of daily writing.

Since this is a recap of yesterday, I’m going to move this daily update to the end of the night, starting tonight, to write out my progress. So expect Day 2 later on.

So anyway…

Yesterday I pushed forward on this week’s novel, and for those of you following along, my goal is 5k words a day.

My WIP creates a conundrum because I need to pursue a word count, but I’m only going to work on 1 book at a time. The challenge is that this book already has 40k+ words written, but I have had too many ideas and the book is undergoing a major revision. I decided I’m going to still focus on this book, regardless of the situation.

And I’m only giving myself until August 14th to finish it.

Yesterday I rewrote, revised, and edited 3 chapters, adding 2,117 new words out of a total of a new total of 2,786 words. I am now officially 9 chapters into the current incarnation of my zombie horror romance.

One change I’m going to do for scheduling is that each book will take a total of 2 weeks before I let them see the light. Week 1, of course, is writing. Week 2 will be editing and revising, and then proofreaders. There will be a new book being written and a book being editing every week.

Or so that’s the idea. I’ll let the details sort themselves out as I go.

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I Wanna be a Pulp Fiction Writer

Sometimes I think I’m a prolific writer. I’ve written a bunch of books and a shitload of short stories. I know I lose steam and have difficulty juggling writing when I’m involved elsewhere, but overall, I write a bunch.

But then I go and read up on the golden age pulp writers, and I realize how low my productivity really is… They Wrote 4500+ words a day, well over a million words every year…

…for decades.

Complete novels every week.

For decades.

So yeah, apparently I’m not a serious enough writer.

So… Since I’m 40-something, I guess I’d better get started if I want to compete with the pulp writers of the past. I’ve only got so many decades left!!!

So what the Hell…let’s go for it. Might as well start my shocking decades-worth of writing output today, right?

And I should totally blog it.

So, let’s set the expectation…

5k a day. That’s a number that works for me. That’s about two hours of writing a day, and 35k words a week. That’s not quite a novel a week, but the 5k a day is a minimum, so we shall see.

Instead of focusing on multiple titles, I will focus on one book until it’s finished.

There will not be a set word count for book length.

Ideas – You know those writing prompts I’ve shared? I’ve got a ton of them, so I’m okay for a year or two.

Anyway, I’ll just go for broke this week and see where I end up, then I can make other plans.

For now, this week will be dedicated to my Zombie Horror Romance.

Deadline for first draft – Sunday, August 13th.

Other project on my plate – Finish paperback of Spilling Blood Season 3.

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Writing Prompts – Mystic Parks

This week’s theme is city parks. Most of the prompts feature magic or the supernatural.

  1. The protagonist finds a picture of someone at the park. It’s just a photograph, but the protagonist feels a connection to the person. Write about the thoughts and dreams the character has. Later, they bump into each other. Does the person live up to the protagonist’s dreams?
  2. A haunted park. Legends speak of ghosts that haunt the park. Is it true? Were people murdered there? Is the ghost of children from a horrible accident? Is it the ghost of a witch out for revenge? It all depends on the truth of the park’s history.
  3. A lost city park. It’s down a side street, nobody seems to know it exists, and the houses are strange with shady people. It’s protected by some strange magic, or exists in a pocket dimension that makes it difficult to notice. Who cares for it, and what secrets does it hide?
  4. The park is the last refuge of a clan of faeries. Their domain is beneath a hill in the city park. When conditions are right, a portal opens to their home. There are stories of strange music and lights at night, especially around certain nights of the year. There are people who have disappeared for days, with no memory of what happened to them.
  5. The park is a safe zone from nightmares that engulf a small town. Perhaps it is holy ground, but the nightmares can only reach the edge. The park might also hold the answers to stopping the nightmares.
  6. There is a lady of the park who chooses a new king of the park. But king of what? And what other duties are required?
  7. A child goes missing at the park, right under the parent’s nose. After months go by, other kids say they hear the child’s voice around the park.

Like them? Have inspiration? Did you use any of them? Let me know in the comments.

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How to Generate Unlimited Story Ideas

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Do you want to write but don’t have anything you’re excited to write about? Missing that something that makes you want to put your butt in chair and get started? Do you have writer’s block?

Goal: To come up with 10 story ideas every day.

For a month.

At the end of a month, choose your favorites for future writing.

Ready? Grab your journal. Let’s do this…

Break each day into a different theme, something you are genuinely interested in and want to write about, or include in your current work in progress.

Themes can be zombies, mermaids, dystopian setting, whatever. Choose a subject that you can conceivably come up with multiple story ideas.

To find out more themes: What’s your favorite book? TV show? Movie? For example, if you are into Game of Thrones, come up with a list of ideas to write your own dark fantasy filled with political intrigue and backstabbing. If Star Wars is on your list, come up with ideas for a Space Opera setting, filled with numerous worlds and unique alien species, with a powerful enemy out to rule the galaxy.

Since I write in multiple genres, I make a category for Sci-Fi, Horror, and Fantasy, and then apply my theme of the day to each category.

Try to do this every day, for at least a month.

Write out a concept for each idea, so when you revisit it in the future, you’ll have an idea of what you originally came up with.

If you struggle with coming up with 10, can you come up with ideas to apply to, say, a romance arc? Or an antagonist story arc?

Some days, take a break from writing fiction ideas and try a day of marketing ideas.

Choose your one or two of your favorites each day, and add it to a second list, one of your best ideas that you’re excited about and want to actively pursue.

Don’t throw out the other ideas.

Can they be combined with your favorite ideas for other story arcs, whether for the main story or for secondary characters?

Can they be made into short stories?

This was not by any means something I came up with. I found it on another website that was written primarily for blogging, and found it works great for fiction development.

 

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