Project Updates

Procrastination hates updates. How many of us waited till the night before to start that book report, or prepare the PowerPoint presentation for work? I had a supervisor that wanted weekly updates on the status of a project. I hated having to prepare notes and show our progress but, I never forgot about the project, at least not for very long. I know me, and I know I am easily… Squirrel! …..sorry, I am easily distracted. So, here is my project update. Eat your heart out procrastination (such a disturbing declaration.)

40K

I have reached the 40,000-word count for my novel. I’ve seen it on the internet (so it must be true) that 40,000 words are the bare minimum to call your story a novel. So, today I revel in my achievement. It’s taken me a long while to get here and I’m excited. If I had to guess, I’d say I’m halfway finished. I have my plot well figured out and I’m trying to get my two protagonists over to Norway to finally meet the antagonist, the man behind the curtain pulling the levers. I have written 12 chapters though chapter 11 is huge and will most likely be split up.

I’m dotting the entire story with Christian concepts. I want them to be apparent without slapping 3:16 on each page and adding a verse concordance in the back. There is murder, gunplay, alcohol, and even…wait for it…lying. How can I even consider writing such dross? These things and much much worse happen every day. I deal with the depravity of the human mind and spirit on a daily basis and it just reinforces my daily need for Christ which is what I want my characters to realize sooner or later in their adventures too.

I am not ready to share my work but when I am, I will share snippets in my posts, ask for feedback and eventually seek alpha and beta readers too.

Along the way, I’ve learned different styles of writing and the habits of successful and unsuccessful authors. I’ve learned that I am a Pantster, a quirky nickname for writers who do little to no planning, writing only by the seat of their pants.

I’ve learned I like ‘Purple Prose’. My descriptions are very ornate and embellished. In some instances, this is good, in my opinion, when it comes to describing a dead body, a crime scene, or the beautiful woman driving a classic Mustang. Where it hurts my writing is when I am building an up-tempo scene, the descriptions can bog down the pace. I will chisel away at these knots when I hit my first edit.

Overall I am pleased with how it’s coming. I have to allow myself some grace through the entire process. I am not a full-time author so writing 3000 words a day is not pragmatic for me. If you have noticed, I do good to post once a month on here. So, though I do get down in the mouth about my lack of writing, I am still moving forward. My goal is to write something every day. Even if it’s just a paragraph and so far I’ve been hitting that goal most weeks.

Woodworking

I actually need to give a big shout-out to Matt Outlaw at 731 Woodworks. I have found so much inspiration from his videos and his story. A former state trooper turned YouTuber, woodworker, and a brother in Christ. Besides his down-to-earth instructional videos, I draw encouragement as he does not hide his mistakes. So when I witness in horror as my saw blade digs out a splintering chunk of wood, I don’t fret. I tell perfectionism to keep his seat and I figure it out and move on.

I linked Matt’s YouTube video where he shows his beginnings. If his first workbench was a red and green tub, then I don’t feel so bad about my dishwasher box workbench.

Thank you for sticking with me. I hope you find inspiration or insight here. If you do, please share http://www.thelatentman.com with others. If you need some encouragement, I’ve added Fires by Jordan St. Cyr below. Thank you for reading and until next time, keep developing yourself.