Hitting My Writing Goals: A Mid-Project Check In


 The fog rolling off the Bay of Fundy has always been thick enough to hide a multitude of sins. Imagine walking down Prince William Street, collar turned up against the cold autumn rain, not entirely sure what waits around the next corner. From the bustling wharves of Market Slip to the opulent drawing rooms of the city's elite, writing a historical mystery is quite the puzzle. It also gives a stellar job of obscuring my plot holes. Let's pull back the curtain on my mid-project Check In, where we will navigate the twisty gas lit alleys in my Victorian Saint John Mystery. 

Why This Short Novel Is Taking Over My Life:

When I am writing, I am a bit of a perfectionist lately. I have to have everything as accurate as I possibly can. If I realize I make a mistake I go back immediately and fix it. I also dedicate most of my waking life to writing, and because of that, I am nearly half way through this rewrite for Before the Deception, this doesn't mean it is going to be the last, before it's ready. But, it is getting pretty close. I live and breath writing when I am working on a project. I honestly don't do much else, and it is the reason that I have not been posting much on social media. It consumes my time, as I want to get this published relatively soon so I can go back to working on Guilty Deceptions and Dark Jealousy too. 

My Characters Have Taken The Reins: 

Now for the most part I attempt to be a plotter, I make as many plans for plot and arcs as well as character developments as I can. Yet, usually these steer so far off course, because in truth I am a Pantser. As much as I attempt to stick to an outline, my characters always end up taking those reins and changing the story far from what I had envisioned it to be. The best way to describe it is I become more of a transcriber, recording the story as they tell it to me. I never argue with my characters if they say this is the direction the story is going, I allow it no matter how far from my plans it takes me. I adapt the changes, and continue on my way. 

As of right now, I have a good idea with where they are taking me, but only time will tell if I am right. Sometimes, they surprise me as much as they do you. 

The Progress:

The thing about working on a short novel is I have been hitting milestones rather quickly. I am getting closer to the end of this particular rewrite. I am peppering in clues and red herrings all over the place to keep you all guessing until the very end. 

As of now, I am on Chapter Twelve, by tonight I hope to be around Chapter Fourteen or maybe even fifteen. It all really depends. I have a list of clues and herrings, that I have been using as a check list so that I leave nothing out and keep better at the story with out having to remember or go back and read to make sure I said something a certain way. 

My Work Space: 

I may have mentioned before that I have a small apartment, and because of that my office is a small corner of my living room.  Though small and rather messy, I keep all my notes on my desk, and have a cork board for sticky notes. I also have my inspiration for books and writing in general pinned on my wall around my desk. This is where I come up with these mysteries, these clues, and these red herrings, all designed to keep you guessing until the very last page. 

In truth, if I were to clean my work space, I would find nothing and be sitting for hours trying to find my notes. Because of that, it's just easier this way. I can stay better organized within the clutter than I can in a clean work space. 

The Progress Breakdown:

In terms of a three act system, I would say I am still on the beginning of Act two. The story is there, everything is still being laid but it's no where near the climax of the book let alone the twist. I still have a long way to go. 

This is also, the third or possibly fourth draft, and might not be the last before publication. After these changes, it will be looked at by my beta readers, and then I will know if I need to make anymore changes before publication.

As I said, I am currently on Chapter Twelve, all of my chapters are titled and at a later date, I will release the chapter titles as a sneak peak of the story. 

The Matter:

There will be a couple of things included in the matter of the book. I will be placing an Acknowledgements section into the book. I will also be adding the first chapter of Guilty Deceptions. This will give you a sneak peak for what is to come in that book. 


Timeline: 

While I am not too worried about timeline's I hope to be finished this draft before August, and send it out to get feedback on it. Then hopefully work on the final draft, before publishing it hopefully before September 21st. Though, I can't write that in stone, as things change constantly with these projects. We have set backs, and sometimes are way ahead of schedule. 

I am confident though that this is nearly to perfection, and I will release it when I feel it is ready for the world. I will attempt to post to my socials a lot more in the up coming weeks, and I will always update my blog regularly. 

All in all, until these three projects are out I will be working non-stop to get these released. 

Until next time, yours in the shadows,

D.C. Malcolm


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