The reason for a July review is that writing takes time, and I’m not blessed with lots to spare. So while I already keep track of where I’m at, and what I’m doing, I think I should publicly share this as a form of accountability. Accountability motivates me and keeps me focused, especially when there are other demands upon my time.
July Review Word Counts
July 2019 has been my best ever month for new words. I was aiming to hit 9,453 words, a daily average of 305. This would enable me to stay on track for my goal of 110,000 words this year. However, I hit 22,268 words during the month, a daily average of 718.
Why did I smash my target? One reason was that I was more disciplined during my daily commute. I can usually manage 500 words on the way to work in the morning. I’ve found the sweet spot on the train, where I can park my bike, get on, and still not be crowded out by all the other commuters. I’ve also been a little more disciplined in the evenings, making sure that on average, I manage a few more words. The last week and a half of July is also holiday time for me. I managed to maintain my word totals when I was often clearing 1,000 words a day but did not overall increase during the holiday.
July Review Works in progress
- Outbreak London – book 5 of the Royal Zombie Corps series. I came up with the name this month. I’m currently sitting on the book until I get an opportunity to edit it. This will likely be my next release.
- Butcher’s Funeral book 2. Still currently unnamed, although I’m playing with titles at the moment. This book is next on my editing list.
- Book 6 of the Royal Zombie Corps series. It may be called Duel, or Dead Handler. Most of my writing during July was focused on this book, and I have one more chapter to write. This it will join the editing list.
July Review Other projects
I’ve spent a lot of time this month looking at marketing, especially Mark Dawson and the Self-Publishing Formula. Getting some of the ideas from these sources into place has taken quite a bit of my holiday time so far, hence no significant holiday boost in writing. I have also redesigned the blog, a work in progress. Finally, I have been re-editing and formatting Blood, Mud and Zombies as part of my efforts to improve my back catalogue.
Plans for August
- Maintain an average daily word count of 1,000 new words – I’m currently working at this level, but need to cut down the low word count days that bring the average down
- Publish a short story on the blog. I’m making the finishing touches to this as it’s an unpublished short I wrote a couple of years ago
- Edit as much of the back catalogue as possible
- Edit Outbreak London
- Rearrange the whole publishing process via incorporation
- Continue to learn and apply as much as I can about publishing
- Commission the artwork for Outbreak London, with plans to recover all the back catalogue where possible
- Complete changes to the blog