Hello, fellow campaigners of the writing world! This week I’m so very worn out. I’ve been dealing with an injury and have so much pent-up energy and little-to-no motivation. But, I decided that even though I’m miserably sitting down all the time, I can make the best of it. I can write. I can work on projects. And so I did. Here are writing entries from the past week days.
January 24th, 2023
I am currently having a writing lull at the worst time. I have a foot injury that requires a lot of sitting time, so one would think I would be swelling with inspiration. In fact, I think it’s sapped the inspiration out of me.
I also have to work on THOHP developmental edits so that I can get the whole book done. For good. It’d be nice to focus on more fun things, but I have to get this out of the way. I know that’s not a healthy way to look at it, but I’ve been plotting this story for 5 years and have been writing/editing for almost 3, so I’m done with it. I want to put it out there. I sorta have with Wattpad, but I want to PUBLISH something. Like, get a physical copy sorta publish.
And I’m also working on Uncitizens. Well, tonight is the first time in weeks I’ve touched it, but I’ve finally finished the chapter I’ve been stuck on. The next chappie will be more comedy based as I am introducing a chaotic neutral Siri-like character and funny tech jokes. I have been world-building, creating character sheets for planets that are important to the book. It also helps to have environments mapped out since a lot of people are crafted to be who they are because of the world around them.
Fun fact: I really can relate to Janet right now. She drags her defective left leg around, and with my injury, I’m doing the same, haha. I at least am not trying to take revenge on my creator, so that’s good at least. But Janet is seriously my favorite character to write about.
January 25th, 2023
Went to the doctor to get my foot checked. I sprained it (nothing is broken), but I have to rest it a lot and do the RICE method. As much as I hate the rest, ice, compression, and elevation, I have to do each a few times a day. Only wrote like 200 words of Uncitizens. I was exhausted from the appointment, so the rest was much needed.
January 26th, 2023
Bro. I wrote about 2.5k words today. I honestly think I wrote a little more, but my Scrivener was acting up. I got my manuscript up to 38,399 words and that’s super exciting. I’m proud of the work I’m churning out cuz it’s a lot of funny banter and ridiculous scenarios that we as Earthlings can relate to. I’ve amped up the everyday struggles with resetting passwords and all that jazz, but with sci-fi tension and time restraint.
I’m also adding the location and date to the beginning of chapters to help people keep track. I might scratch this idea once I add another POV, but I’m not even going to be writing Dr. Robison’s POV until I get Jekkh’s done. I don’t want to switch their voices, though I am excited to delve into Dr. Robison’s since he is from Earth so I don’t have to tread around too many common “Earthling” phrases. And his inner thoughts will be a little more up-my-alley. Jekkh is really naive and is a watcher. She doesn’t understand a lot that is going on, so I’m gonna have to go back and fill it more with her voice. Dr. Robison’s voice will be more sarcastic probably, and a little more knowledgeable since he is middle-aged.
But one of my favorite things to write about is Janet the Planet Chaperoid. She’s been a killer queen in the past chapter or two, so I have been enjoying the banter she has with everyone. And slowly, the whole team starts to appreciate this Chaotic Neutral robot with revenge instilled into her. I want to explore her arc because she goes from hating her creator, taking everything into her own hands, and doesn’t trust the reasons she’s defective to trusting that there is a reason she was made this way. I’m really replicating the fallen humanity theme with Janet and her creator, so I’m excited to get going on it.
I also introduced a character that is lawful neutral (eventually lawful good? maybe, I don’t know). She is the Siri-like interface for the spaceship, Interface Epsilon. She is actually a “space bus” educational interface, but they don’t know it until it’s too late. It would’ve been fine but Janet, who is brutally honest and an antagonistic character, riles Epsilon up and now there is an AI war going on in the ship and Epsilon blames the team for it. So, they will have to face literal problems (math, science, etc.), in order to do simple things. Epsilon sees herself as an all-knowing teacher and them as lesser-than students of hers. She has a love-hate relationship with them. And she knows they are UNO fugitives and is disappointed in them, but takes it into her non-existent hands to shape them into “better” students and people.
January 27th, 2023
Today, I’m wanting to get a good chunk of editing done for THOHP before jumping back into the Uncitizens.
I got to chapter 8 finished and part of it was just pre-written that I edited, but I had to add a new scene with a letter from Da so that Hattie’s new arc and goal can be established.
I have now 18k words edited in total and have 56k more to edit (and possibly a lot more to write because of the plot I’m adding). The book might break the 80k mark, making it the longest book I’ve written.
January 28th, 2023
Reached 27.2k words edited in THOHP. I am excited to see how this new plotline will fill out the book, making it more of a cohesive piece. I’m hinting at her want for Da to be with her early on, and have now reached the part where she is trying to make it happen. My editor said that later in the book it felt more like a bunch of short stories thrown together with the same characters, so hopefully, when I’m done editing, the “short stories” will have the thread of her goal intertwined within. Already, it’s added a couple more chapters and scenes into the book, so I’m excited at how it’s turning out.
I worked a bit on learning how to storyboard for screenplays, having fun with it.
This is for an Uncitizen’s Ship book trailer concept (and I’m a go-getter so making it more complicated is the way to go).
So, with having to sit down a lot, it’s the perfect time to write and create. I’ve worked on THOHP’s editing, writing Uncitizen’s Ship, the trailer for Uncitizen’s Ship book, an Uncitizens Saga table-top RPG idea, and a sci-fi short film script. The latter two are under wraps for a bit.
January 29th, 2023
I’m working on THOHP because I’m actually quite happy and motivated about it for once. But, I keep stopping cuz I need to find out what things cost back in the 1880s, and that’s quite taxing (and then I go down rabbit trails of looking at old documents and that’s not helping anyone, haha).
Today, I edited another chapter or two, and kinda planned out the rest of it. It’s probably gonna be over 80k words. Maybe even 85k.
January 30th, 2023
I took a much-needed break today, writing a little for THOHP. I played Minecraft and watched YouTube videos the rest of the day.
January 31st, 2023
Today, I wrote the skeleton of the chapter I’m working on for Uncitizens, taking a break. Then this evening, I fleshed out the chapter, writing approximately 1.2k today. Not bad.
As you can see, by the end of this, I slowed down a bit, but that’s not the point. I just wanted to DO something. And to be honest, I think I pushed myself a little too hard in the beginning, making me lose steam in the end. But that doesn’t matter. What matters is that the words are written. Progress has been made!
The Hope of Hattie Phelan
Part 1 edited (new scenes written as well). It’s at 15 chapters (33,254 words). Only approximately 45k to go (not including new scenes).
Uncitizen’s Ship
I wrote 5,011 new words for this book in the past 6 days (that’s over 800 words a day). That’s awesome. I was stuck again and am proud that I was able to push through.
Thanks for reading! What have you been doing?
Salutations, fellow adventurers!
Respectfully,
A. F. Kopp Author 