Ben Lurie - Book Progress - Draft 3 chapter 9 of 37

#nokings

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir is the clear front-runner for my favorite book of the year. The alien species Weir invented for the story was a highlight.

I'm sure it was my ex taking tylenol that made our son autistic.

It has nothing to do with the fact that the first thing I do after buying a new shirt is dispose of the itchy tag at the back of the neck, or that I generally don't understand sarcasm unless it's blatant.

True love is belting breakup songs next to your wife at a concert. #StateChamps

*Steps on metaphorical soapbox*

I don't care what political affiliation the person who shot Kirk belonged to. They are a murderer. That does not mean that all members of whatever affiliation they were a part of are potential murderers.

*Steps off of soapbox*

So the good news is I don’t think Draft 3 is going to need a major overhaul. There’s a few chapters I might rewrite from scratch because I’m switching POVs. Aiming for February to get draft 3 done and to alpha readers.

Using a lot of logical fallacies in arguments with college students does not warrant an execution.

I’m the literal worst author to ask, lol. I don’t care all too much about what my characters look like. Sure they all have descriptions but if what’s in my brain is completely off from the reader’s brain that’s okay.

Working together

There are two protagonists: Beowulf and Merlin.

Draft 2 Progress- Done! #amwriting

Easily my longest book I've written so far. It's also the first time I've completed two drafts in a single year.

Onto Draft 3!

As I get closer and closer to the ending of draft 2. I’m getting the itch to start draft 3.

#amwriting

So I have this constantly updating playlist called “4 songs” that’s currently:

Kill me Fast - Three Days Grace
Asphyxiate - Hot Milk
Bad Habits - Silverstein
Drowning Lessons - My Chemical Romance.

I’m not sure if I should be concerned.

So I’m gonna need another draft before betas. Which is both expected and frustrating.

Draft 2 so far has made massive leaps over draft one as far as characterization and leaning into the fun of spy thriller genre.

Draft 3 is going to be focused on tweaking the character arcs of my MCs.

I'm getting pretty far off the intended outline. Still, got the major beats, but I'm no longer confident in how many chapters are left.

Officially at the halfway point of the draft two outline. The first 19 chapters combined are 51K words which if pace is kept keeps the final word count at 103K ish

Playing some serious inside baseball with this last chapter. POV character is being introduced to magic while the person he’s tailing is playing DND.

1 session down 1 to go

I mean the art doesn’t help

Took the last week off from goal-based writing since I had my kid all week. Still wrote most of a chapter.

At my current Word per chapter draft 2 is looking to come in at over 100K words.

I’m back.

Holding off on signing up for Judge Foundry for now. But I’ll be at local events.

As a cis-man. What the fuck?

Huge shoutout to Shut Up and Write. It’s been a friggin godsend for my productivity.

The irony of second drafts is that the chapters where I'm only making small changes feel like they take more time than the ones where I'm making new material or radically changing what I'd written previously.

Severance S1 and S2 Review.

Brilliant premise and the show is doing an excellent job of exploring all the ramifications and philosophical questions that arise from said premise. The pacing can be a little slow at parts and a fair amount of back-tracking to give extra length but still gets an A.

Time Management

How to support your writer friends for free:

- If you think they're a good writer, tell them.
- Tell them again.
- Repost their links when they write something new.
- Post your favorite quotes from their work.
- Encourage other people to give them money.
- TELL THEM.
- Actually read their work.

Draft 2 progress

Finished making flashcards for all the characters that are in multiple scenes with their personalities, physical mannerisms, and dialogue quirks.

Making the outline next.

Thunderbolts* review

It’s a fun romp. Slides comfortably into the B Grade. I wouldn’t go out of my way to see it again but it’s not a bad movie by any stretch.