Another productive day. Yesterday I fell just short of my quota but I ended on a good stopping point. I still netted two chapters yesterday so I consider that progress. Today I hit my quota no problem.
For reading, I finished IDW’s TMNT Vol. 6 (not 5). Another great volume. I especially enjoyed the April and Casey miniseries at the end.
I’ll start my next book tonight or tomorrow. I have two choices: a book on African mythology, or a science book. Can’t decide yet.
That said, I studied this series today because it is a masterful exercise in fiction teams. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are perhaps the most famous team of all time. I really loved how the comic shifts between different characters and wanted to learn from it. I outlined the first four issues and noted all of the POV shifts. I noticed that the arcs are roughly 4 issues, which represents 1/3 of each volume. Each arc focuses on 1-2 characters.
In studying teams, I learned two critical lessons. First, there’s the concept of “who’s on stage”, which is important if you have a big team. You’ve got to give the main character or viewpoint character the most time, but you can’t forget the others and have to juggle them accordingly.
Then there’s the concept of “who’s in the spotlight.” So you might have multiple characters in a scene, but only 1 or 2 are actually driving it.
So, for example, asking “who’s on stage” and then “who’s in the spotlight” is helpful. Then, just make sure that the reader knows what the on-stage, not spotlighted characters are doing here and there so the reader doesn’t forget about them. By outlining the first four issues in the series, I learned quite a bit. Some of it I was doing already, some of it not.
Anyhoo, TMNT is a masterclass in teams. In fact, there are some issues in the comic where there are teams within teams. Really masterful and easy to study.
For data analysis, no work in that area today because I’m racing to get this novel done.
For marketing, I hosted a social event for indie authors at The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI)’s annual conference. There were 50 authors on the call, and I was the emcee. Great fun, and nice to see so many authors with a passion for self-publishing.
Tomorrow, I’ll be on The Indy Author Podcast with Matty Dalrymple. We’ll be talking about making the most out of in-person author conferences. It’s always fun chatting with Matty.
For production, I’m racing toward the end of Year of the Rat (The Chicago Rat Shifter Book 3). I’m so close I can taste it, but I’m still not there yet. It’s just a matter of another day or two I think. I just started the final battle. I just need to finish it, write the ending, give the characters a proper send off (since the series is over after this book) and write an afterword.
Also, we had a great power hour today. Be sure to watch the replay if you missed it. The next one will be Saturday, September 10 at 10AM Central/11AM Eastern.
Once I finish this novel, I’ll get it off to my fact checker who will turn it around in about a week. Then it will go to my copyeditor (another week), proofreader (2 weeks), and then hopefully be ready for publishing. I should be getting the first draft of the cover any day now. That will probably take about 2-3 weeks to finalize unless the designer nails the first draft.
Once I get this novel off to my fact checker, I will begin Beast Mode around 1-2 days after, so it’s coming soon, folks! I just didn’t want to start Beast Mode in the middle of a book. But this year’s challenge will be somewhere around 60-75 days. I still have to figure out what I’m going to write.
So far, the ideas are:
- Indie Author Confidential Vol. 10 and 11
- The Good Necromancer Book 6
- The Good Necromancer short story collection
- Marketing best practices
- Addendum to How to Dictate a Book—about 5,000 words with some updated material on voice recorders
After Beast Mode, I’ll be moving onto:
- Writer’s Block book based on science
- UF mythology series
- More Good Necromancer
The last group will require some solid research, so I’m not including them in Beast Mode.
Anyway, I need to finish this novel, folks. Have a good night.
