The Year In Writing, So Far

It’s been a while since my last full-on writing update, which looking back isn’t terribly surprising. So far, this year has been less about generating raw wordage than simply wrangling with my mental headspace as a writer: brainstorming projects, quietly processing, getting a handle on my goals and ambitions. The fact that the first few months of 2011 were positively teeming with distraction and/or stress kind of kept me in a thinking mode, too.

I’m starting to see some glimmers of increased productivity, though. After setting it aside for a few months to get perspective, I’m starting to get some first-reader feedback on Subnetworks, which has been exciting so far. I’m gearing up to work on it again; draft three is shaping up to be a summer project.

I’ve also been alternating between outline work and early draft chapters on a new novel, working title Rogue Souls, which has accumulated forty-odd pages. This one’s kind of a departure for me — a gonzo urban fantasy mashing up my passions for spies, music, PI TV shows, heists, created family, 20th century history, and villainous conspiracies. While sometimes it feels like my usual motto (“Writing is the process of fucking up your ideas”) is in effect, at others it feels like something pretty unique and cool is happening. Here’s hoping I can pull this one off!

On top of that, I seem to have accidently started a new short story: an attempt at flash that refused to cooperate, and now has a couple thousand words. I haven’t quite figured out the ending, so it’s stalled at the moment, but it’s an interesting piece that’s quietly demanding to be finished. The damn thing!

So I haven’t exactly been piling up huge word counts this year, but it’s been an interesting start to 2011 — more contemplative and internal, maybe more transitional, shifting into a new phase. I’m curious to see where it goes!