A year in words

I don’t do detailed writing metrics like exact number of words written, number of short stories submitted etc. This isn’t because I’m not interested in such matters; on the contrary, they’re fascinating and diverting and a lot less effort than actual work – which is why I don’t do them.

However, I estimate that in 2009 I produced about 50K of new words for Guardians of Paradise, that being my third book. I then performed the iterative convolutions of revision over a period of some months, a process almost impossible to reduce to statistics. I’m about 7.5K into the first draft for Bringer of Light, and will no doubt be banging on about that in future posts. I also wrote two short stories which mutated into novellas, and ended up at 10K and 13.5K long respectively. At the other end of the spectrum I wrote a couple of ‘short shorts’ of less than 1K each. I appear to have lost the ability to write an ordinary length short story, though hopefully this is only temporary.

Nothing I wrote this year actually saw print during the year, but that’s not unusual. Consorts of Heaven, my second novel, came out in May, as did both my short stories sales, ‘Angel Dust’ and ‘High Ground’.  

For 2010 the priority remains novels, or rather novel singular. Bringer of Light is due for delivery at the end of November, which, baring unforeseen circumstances, should give me a relatively leisurely time of it compared to the preceding two. I hope to produce a few new short stories – three is a realistic target – and I intend to find time to revise the two novellas I wrote this year. Ideally I’d like to sell them, along with some of the other short pieces that have been hanging around for a while, but that’s in the hands of the editors.

So, a happy new year to all, especially those who write. May you reach your goals, or at least be pleased with what you do achieve.