A mixed success. I successfully wrote every day for at least half an hour, except for Tuesday — I was still busy setting up the new website, and so the morning got away from me, then I went to the Elizabeth Hand reading, which then turned into an emotional farewell to the Continental, a long-term Clarion West staple, so I didn’t get any writing done after that either.
Where I failed was that I wanted to finish a story for Heroic Fantasy Quarterly in time for their June submission window, and didn’t. The story simply took longer to put together than I was hoping. I was able to write out a pretty good sketch of what I wanted to happen, including oodles of intriguing backstory, during the first week or so of June. But the scenes themselves took forever to write, and I think it’s probably because alt-world heroic fantasy is not actually my most comfortable genre. Which I already knew, and it’s why I gave myself the assignment, so I’m not surprised or even (much) disappointed.
I also got way less writing done this weekend than I was hoping. Saturday and Sunday were both 60-90 minute writing days, and I think to have a real chance at finishing the heroic fantasy story I would have needed a 4-5 hour stint somewhere in there. I’m still not sure if I didn’t put in the time because the story never really caught fire, or if the story never really caught fire because I didn’t put in the time. Also, it was hot, which in Seattle is very distracting.
What is my goal for Week 2, then? I think I want to submit something to Beneath Ceaseless Skies, or possibly Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet, or some other market that I think has a cool name.