The End is Nigh

Update 38 21-27 Feb. 2022

A lot is going on in the world this week, I almost thought of skipping this update.

But I’m just talking about progress in writing and making things work, and I did manage to still work. Despite constantly looking at twitter and the news for information.

I started the week at a loss, 10 days without writing. But during those ten days I decided to cut out an entire chapter, reorganized the two chapters, and completely rewrote the outline for the last chapter of the book. I hemmed and hawed and used these changes as excuses to not write. I spent hours staring at the notebook and scratching out ideas. I started thinking about the outlining for the next novel.

In short, I wasted a lot of time wringing hands and second guessing myself. And then I sat down and put my damn fingers to the keyboard.

Words… Re-engerized.

After ten days away from the keyboard I finally set out to write. I hammered out a short chapter, 2400 words and suddenly I realized I was in the endgame. This is the big battle, the final culmination of everything these characters were working toward.

I just had to split the party and send them to their goals. I introduced the final setting, an ancient city at the foot of mountain. Rebuilt over and over again on top of the previous iterations. A mish mash of ancient cultures and engineering sprawling over a fertile plain.

On Friday, my home got lashed with snow and then freezing rain. My house and more importantly my car were covered in ice. The boss called and work was closed. This extra day off produced a second chapter, far longer than the previous and leading through a different half of the city. A section exploring the ancient temples of long dead gods and pharaohs.

The Numbers: Word Count

Forgive me for waxing poetic above.

I knocked out two chapters last week, 39 and 40, for a total of 6532 words for the week. The manuscript is sitting at 172,725 total words. I have 6 chapters and an epilogue left before I get to type: The End. I’m figuring another 20k and its all over. Unless I start ‘chewing the scenery’ with a bunch of overly descriptive passages.

Art, Gaming, and Miniatures

I have been feeling the pull of my various hobbies. I’ve spent so much of my free time writing the novel, reading, and doing side work that all of my hobbies (other than my gaming sessions) have gone to the wayside.

It has been months since I painted minis for myself, and I have several projects piling up around me. I have also felt the pull to try my hand at drawing again. I used to draw a LOT as a child, and then I stopped for a VERY long time. Art is one of those things that you always have within you… but it is also one of those things that if you don’t do it constantly you start to lose your touch. You forget the skills you used to have. I’ve tried several times to get back into the habit, but it’s been frustrating.

Currently the only drawing I do is little maps for my chapters and occasional sketches of monsters and items and such for the novel. I’m going to try to carve some art time out of my week. Time when I can either paint minis for myself, or sketch some pictures.

I might take pictures of my crappy art and post them on here. Just like I post my weekly word counts to keep myself accountable, I will start posting art or minis each week to also hold me accountable to my other hobbies and goals. Why not?

More Gaming

This week was interesting.

My Tuesday game didn’t meet, but my monthly Curse of Strahd did. That game is still very slow going, but its more about seeing friends who I usually only got to see one week each year.

On the other hand, I also got to create a new character for a twice a month Strahd game that will be happening with another group. It will be interesting to see how the dynamics of the two games go. Though the new game is starting off at almost the same point that the first game is at now. (The new game is skipping the Death House and I believe it’s going to drop us almost directly with Madam Eva… which I’ve been led to believe is a crucial point where all of the details of the game are determined).

I know that for a while I was doing an In-Character journal for my character in the monthly game, but the pace was so slow that I just didn’t have enough material to do constant posts here. I’m toying with the idea of trying again with the new character.

I don’t know if anyone would be interested in that?

Of course, I also said I would do stories from other regular games and I haven’t delivered on any of those promises either. And I just said I wanted to start devoting weekly time to art… but if I start writing extra posts on here… sigh. Time management is always the problem.

Speaking of Such…

Time management is telling me its time to go eat a meal so, I will end this one here. I hope everyone reading this is doing well. Stay safe, stay healthy, and keep writing, making art, gaming, or whatever else brings you joy.