Hiatus is Over

Laura Highcove

My hiatus is now over, as by the time you’re reading this, the Show Team is back from the National Appaloosa Championships and Youth World Show. Because of the extra hours I put in to make up as assistant manager while the manager was gone, I took the past two and a half weeks off from writing, and let myself play lots of Disgaea 5. But now it’s time to shift back into work mode. First thing on the list is to start reading the comments from my wonderful beta readers for the Law of the Demon King. Looking forward to the inside I get there, as well as regaining some of my motivation for working on that story.

There will be a few days of reading comments during which time comes one of my favorite parts of revision, making the list of edits! Even though this list ends up being extremely long, especially at first, it always encourages it because it’s tangible. Lists also help me organize the story in my mind since I’m looking at the whole thing at once, instead of piece by piece. I even color code the list items based on how much work I estimate it will take, which usually determines in which order I will tackle each item. In addition, my beta readers are both coming to Otakon with me this year, which will afford us more talking and brainstorming time. Mwahahaha!

Once I have a list, I’ll be able to estimate my timeline a little better. I’d like to get through with this book by the end of the year, but right now I have no idea if that’s feasible, or way too easy. And who knows, maybe I’ll get some more done on the Wizard in between bursts of revision.

Finally Back to Productive

Laura Highcove


Got back from my vacation in Williamsburg and had a ton of fun. This was Argon’s first time going to the condo, but as expected he spent maybe an hour slinking around before he was perfectly fine. I played a lot of Hyrule Warriors, went to Busch Gardens, bought clothes, ate food, and ended up writing a decent amount while I was at it.

I also used the vacation as a reset point for my writing. I didn’t record how much writing I did while on vacation. I just ended up with 8k words written on my phone by the end of the week. But when I got home, I just accepted that I was back on schedule, and I split my time between two stories: Blessings of the Neriel, which I realized I needed to keep restarting from the beginning because my characters weren’t solid enough, and a new story I started during vacation that I ended up tossing aside because the idea isn’t developed enough yet. (Oddly enough, the characters are there, the story just isn’t.) And I ended up working more on a story I had started a while ago, with the working title: Kirin.

As such I’ve been getting work done while I’m waiting for my alpha readers on the Huntsman. I keep having an urge to work on it, but I’d like to 1) wait until the alpha feedback is back and 2) read the short stories my husband wrote in the Storyteller world for Nanowrimo, but we’re having some trouble getting that formatted right so I can read it. I might lose patience before July and start working on it anyway, but for now I’m just happy to be writing again.

Week 4 of April

Laura Highcove

Every once and a while, life happens. Well okay, you’re right, life is always happening, but now and again it really happens and you get swept up in just going because that’s all you have the time or energy for. That is the general explanation for the reason that I haven’t got much of anything done in the past month.

In a bit more detail: I had serious trouble with motivation on the Huntsman. Copper continued to lose weight. My new antidepressant suddenly made it so I could only get four hours of sleep at night and I had to deal with not sleeping and getting the medication changed. And I had a horse show and the practice and preparation for that.

As such, all of my writing goals fell by the wayside. I basically got next to nothing done. Luckily, despite the sleeping problems, the antidepressant was working and I didn’t fall into depression during this time. I simply decided I had to keep doing what needed to be done. (I did still get out my Newsletter, I was very proud.) And now that I’m on the other side of the horse show, and Copper has gained weight, and my sleep schedule is mostly under control, I was able to finally hit the reset button.

Because that’s the way I get back into the swing of my life when it’s gone off kilter, hitting the reset button. I basically had to let go of any lingering regrets about my lack of productivity (not easy) and just make a whole new plan. I joined up in Camp Nanowrimo for the encouragement of fellow writers that helped me push through finishing the draft of the Huntsman. I started working on a completely different story, to give myself a break from my Storyteller series. I wrote about six versions of this post that I was completely unhappy with before reaching the current version. I got my laundry done. (big deal after a horse show) And my hubby and I signed a design contract as the first step for finally getting our basement finished.

I went back and looked at the quotes that I put as the featured images for my writing journal posts, and I’ve noticed that a vast majority of them talk about doing things a bit or a step at a time, and just keeping that up as consistently as possible. I don’t choose those quotes at random, I look for something that speaks to me in the moment, so that’s just something at the heart of my outlook on life. And I think I’m okay with that.

My lack of achieving my goal does mean that I don’t get to play Kingdom Hearts 3 for a bit longer than I was expecting. My new goal is to reach my Camp Nanowrimo goal and see how far that gets me in my new story, and to get my April Newsletter out. Nothing huge, but for now, it’s enough.

Week 1 of March

Laura Highcove

I swear, I have the hardest time with titles for these posts…

Had a pretty great weekend and was rather productive. This past week’s goal was smoothing the Wizard. I realized I had gotten a little caught up in trying to get to a revision stage instead of straight up smoothing, so I pushed myself over the weekend to work just on smoothing and it went a bit better. I also played some Hyrule Warriors because I love that game.

According to the plan I made for myself, I was supposed to finish a rough draft of the Huntsman, smooth the beginning of the Wizard. I was unable to get done with the Huntsman. There was simply more to do than I originally thought. Rose is still giving me trouble as well. This led to some motivation problems and low level anxiety. As such, I shifted to the next thing on my goal list, which was smoothing the Wizard.

The next two weeks are now going to be writing 1.6k words a day on the Wizard. And I seem to be perfectly ready for that. I’ve already done a lot of rewriting while smoothing, which has been enjoyable. I’m also hoping that exploring Rose in the Wizard will help me with the problems he’s giving me in the Huntsman.

So the current goal is: Two weeks of 1.6k words a day, with smoothing as necessary. AND I’m going through the Huntsman again to figure out what is actually there, and aim toward an alpha read. Last time I had an alpha read of the Huntsman, just the feedback and straight up talking about it helped me move forward, so I’m hoping another push will get me to the finished draft I’m aiming for.

Review: Gotham Seasons 1-4

Laura Highcove

Review: Gotham

My husband and I describe Gotham with the phrase: “The worst show on TV we never miss an episode of.”

Our relationship with Gotham has been very interesting, from the beginning. We gave it a shot because it’s Batman, or that universe at least. This show has a lot of bad qualities, one of which being the almost universally bad acting. In season 1, I almost couldn’t stand any time Jim Gordan, the main character, tried to act anything more than a casual conversation between coworkers. Bruce Wayne, was almost as terrible, but we gave him a pass because the actor was still a kid. The only person who did seem to be able to act was Harvey Dent.

And yet, week after week we kept coming back to the show, and it paid off. Because this show knows how to do payoffs. Of course I can’t necessarily give any of those without spoilers galore, but while the lead up is rough and sometimes painful, this show can make the different plots and the different characters come together into beautiful and amazing moments that make you want to cheer.

And thankfully, by Season 5, the acting has improved, and looking back, the character development has been rather beautiful. Jim, Penguin, Barbara, Selena, Ivy, and especially Ed and Bruce. Jim still overacts when he gets really emotional, but Bruce has really settled so firmly into his role and it is a beautiful thing to behold. The first episode of Season 5 has me eager to see how things are going to progress. If you haven’t given Gotham a shot, I’d encourage you to. And if you can make it through the first season, it’s totally worth it. (Plus, season two is when Alfred suddenly becomes more British, because I guess they got a writer who knows British lingo.)

February Goals

Laura Highcove

Now that I’m into February and my first newsletter with a Chapter 1 has gone out, it’s time to shift focus to the next thing on my list. My current wips, the Huntsman and the Wizard. At the end of last year I vaguely told myself I was going to give myself until the end of this year to finish my rough draft. Now I’ve actually sat down to work out how long it will take me and it came out for 17 weeks, or four months exactly.

And, if I make my goal, I’mma buy Kingdom Hearts 3.

Measurable goals:

Make the Huntsman readable: There are a number of scenes that still need to be written. Bits of foreshadowing. And the ending needs to be solid. Basically I want it to readable straight through, even if it’s not polished.

Feb 4 – 1 week to solidify the ending.
Feb 11 – 1 week to fill in any big holes in events/foreshadowing with scenes.
Feb 18 – 1 week to smooth the whole thing.

Rough draft of the Wizard: I have only a basic idea of what this story is going to do, despite having 44k words written already. I want a beginning, a middle, and especially the end, so I know where this whole thing is going.

Feb 25 – 1 week to smooth what I already have.
Mar 4&11 – 2 weeks of 1.6k words a day (23.3k)
Mar 18 – 1 week of smoothing
Mar 25&Apr 1 – 2 weeks of 1.6k words a day (23.3k)
Apr 8 – 1 week of smoothing (Horse Show)
Apr 15&22 – 2 weeks of 1.6k words a day (23.3k)
Apr 29&May 6 – 2 week smoothing (Vacation here)
May 13&20 – 2 weeks writing important scenes
May 27 – 1 week final pass

New Year’s Projects

Laura Highcove

We’re into the new year and I’ve been using my new spreadsheet to keep track of my hours and so far! …well it isn’t much different, truthfully. The changes I implemented are more important for summarizing and ease of looking back, for now I’m working on a few new projects into the new year.

I did a pass through of the Huntsman and sorted through everything I’d written. When I finished writing the rough draft the ending was sort of all over the place in terms of order and all stuffed into the same folder. I have since pulled those pieces apart and reassembled them into chapters.

After I got that done, I sat down to determine what my biggest problem is right now. And I’m pretty sure it’s ‘what the heck is Rose doing!?’. I know what I want him to do, but the path there is a hodgepodge, so I did notecards of scenes to figure out what I did have, what I needed, and then I went back and started smoothing. I haven’t hit the “messy” place yet, but I’m trying to tighten his focus a bit. Not sure if I’m being successful yet, but as I try to remind myself I don’t have to fix everything in one pass, just made it a bit better each pass.

I also have a new announcement for my newsletter which disappeared in August of last year. I am going to be restarting that with a new focus. I’m still going to use it as a place to talk about the lessons I’ve learned from life’s difficulties, but I am also going to be posting the “Chapter 1” of stories I have written, a new one each month. I’ll also be including a quick (like only 1 question) questionnaire at the end of each chapter for feedback. I want to use this feedback as a way to gauge interest in my projects and use it to determine what my next project may be.

For the newsletter going out at the end of January, I am going to be sending out the first chapter of Angelic Links: The world is run by computer code and only heaven has admin access. If you’re already signed up for my newsletter, then you don’t need to do anything to get this chapter. If you’re not yet signed up, you can do so here, and you’ll receive my newsletter at the end of the month that will include the first chapter of Angelic Links.

As for my goals, I am hoping to get through to Chapter 15 in the next two weeks with a lot more focus in Wildrose’s motivation. If I can get through Chapter 18 without any major problems, that will be a huge success.

2018 Timesheet

Laura Highcove

So one of my long term projects for this year was an excel spreadsheet that I recorded the hours I spent toward my writing career. I’ve heard the advice over and over that if you want to be a writer you need to treat it like a job. So one of the things I decided was that I needed to spend 20 hours a week on my writing. The spreadsheet was to help me track when I’ve done that. It also helped with the times when I felt like I haven’t spent enough time writing, since if I have the actual numbers, then I know. And when they’re low, I knew I needed to spend more time on it. Plus I love organized data.

I was still getting used to the idea and figuring out which things I was going to keep track of. By the end of January I settled on the basic DIY MFA sections of Writing, Reading, and Community with several subsections, and here’s the summary for the year:

Feb-April I was super on point, with hitting my 80 hours a month (20 hours a week) goal, with a solid 50% spent toward writing and ~25% ish toward the other two.

I was on vacation the first week of May and while I did some writing, I did not track the hours. The middle two weeks were less than productive due to making up hours over the weekend and then some depression.

June-August were Nationals as well as the beginnings of Nickel getting sick. I’m not really surprised that my hours plummeted. It was probably one of the worst periods of consistent depression I’ve ever had. I’m actually proud I got as much done as I did.

Sept and October are a little nuts. That is almost entirely due to the Writing Excuses Cruise. I chose to count the entirety of the time spent on the cruise on my timesheet, since I was technically there for my writing, but I didn’t want to spend time nickel and diming each little thing I did. This encouraged me to add an ‘event’ section to next year’s timesheet for things like writing retreats and conferences. Anyway, that retreat lit a fire under my butt for the next month to get the Huntsman draft done and do some heavy rewriting.

My November hours were curious to me, because I did NaNo, and I did it very well, but I had a sad dearth of hours. I think that since I had given myself the NaNo my goal, as soon as I had the words needed, I didn’t really push myself to do anything else. Two of my weeks were nothing but writing. Something to keep in mind for next year. Perhaps there’s a place between 50k and 90k that I can hit without burning out, or perhaps I just need to give myself two goals for November. There was also Thanksgiving travel, of course.

December was going great until my cat Copper got sick and had to be hospitalized for three days. That really killed the week. She ended up being fine, a known issue that likely flared up due to the stress of the new cat. I also did nothing while traveling for Christmas. Sort of sad to end the year on a down-swing, but such is life.

After looking this over, I’ve decided to take into account vacation time and ‘rest’ days (for sickness or depression) so that I don’t just look at my lack of hours and feel bad. I also noticed that overall, I am not happy with the lack of time spent on reading and analyzing what I read. I might give myself some sort of goal there.

I’m super excited to see what next year will bring. I already have the new timesheet made up, with some cool excel tricks to make the sheet itself less time consuming. Yay data!

Headed for the New Year

Laura Highcove

Most of what I’ve been doing in the past two weeks is smoothing of the Huntsman in order to put into place what I can and see where the holes still are. The first 14 chapters went by very quickly, only needing some minor notes and fixes. At chapter 15 my progress slowed down considerably because, as I told my alpha readers, ‘that’s where things get messy’.

There is far more smoothing and straight up new prose that needs to be done in order to push forward. The other day I literally did nothing other than write out my thoughts on where the story should be going in order to try and figure out where the story was going. It was a bit painful, but it gave me enough to move forward.

I found that keeping track of word count is too difficult because of the way I switch from writing to smoothing and back. It’s disruptive to pay attention to the shift, and it’s not a clear enough divide to get any meaningful data from it. It would’ve been a different story if I’d done it during Nano, but alas.

I also created a timeline to keep track of the different plot threads during the Huntsman. Doing so helps to organize the shape of the story which allowed me to find a hole. It also encouraged me to write out the timeline of the Law of the Prince Charming, so I know how much time the book took. It is 30 days.

My goal is to push through the Huntsman. Wildrose is giving me the most trouble. I’m trying to give him some direction, but mostly I just need the most basics of what is going on. I’d love to try get through the rest of the novel this week before I go away for Christmas. However, I’m not sure how realistic that is. I might need to take off the writer gloves and just do nothing but reorganize what I have and write down what I don’t.

I’m also planning on overhauling my newsletter some. It sort of got …ignored for a while, and part of that is that I think something needs to change. Expect some news on that by the end of January.

Review: Foundryside

Laura Highcove

My Review of Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett

My summary: A thief takes the job to steal something, even though the offered money is enough to inform her that it’s a job that would be better left alone. She knows she shouldn’t open the box, but she just can’t help herself.

Why I picked up this book: Truthfully? Because I was impressed enough by his ‘Divine Cities’ trilogy and the ending he nailed, that I picked up this book without even reading the cover. I find myself doing that a lot more, recently.

What I knew going in: The book is called Foundryside and he got some cover quotes by impressive people.

My response: I had my mind blown by the world building at least three times in the first 150 pages of this book. I devoured this book like it was a thriller, it pulled me along so beautifully. There was one span of maybe ten pages somewhere close after the halfway point that dragged enough for me to notice. The characters were all enjoyable, the magic system was amazing, and I am dying to find out more about the world he’s set up.

Do I recommend this book?: In terms of world-building and magic system, I was impressed by this book more page for page than anything Sanderson I’ve read. Wow, that was actually painful for me to write. So yes, go read this book.