Writing Progress Review #15

Content warning: occasional profanity. Michael's network connection is a little flaky so his video feed tends to fuzz in and out, his audio is generally good but sometimes a little out of sync. We open as usual with weather, this time in Italy, then a discussion of all the travel he'll be doing visiting wineries in Italy (he's a wine writer, so that's actually work for him.) By next episode he'll be back in Canada (we hope) so we discuss whether or not he'll be able to catch a flight or be returning by cargo ship. Progress reporting: I have a negative word count, but I have figured out how to write the ending of my novel. Hurrah! I describe how I got there after an embarrassing long period of time. We segue into writing with or without paper. On Michael's end, his short story placed first in the first round of a NYC Midnight writing contest, so buoyed by that, in addition to writing a story for the second round, he entered another contest, requiring another 2,500 word story. This means editing his novel is on hold but before he shelved it, he cut 425 words. He is also in the write-a-thon run by Pocket MFA. We agree that he's insane. Including the counts for his short stories, he's at 42% of the way to his 50K goal for April. I noted that he's 2/3 through the month and 42% is less than 66%. He also joined another contest in May. His summary: "beware the rush that comes from placing first!" He hopes to return to editing next month. On other writerly stuff I mention "On Being, (and becoming again) a Writer" by Ron Collins and recommend it (see my review on Storygraph), and the virtual Can*Con conference that was held last week. Michael talks about adding the fifth book ever to his DNF list. We talk about books we don't like even though they're by writers we love. Goals: Michael corners me into writing three days a week over the next two weeks. I express how I can't fathom participating in these writing contests he's so keen on. He says it helps push him into the writing habit. His goals: the 500 word contest in May and trying to hit the 50K in April. He figures it's going to be a struggle. This episode's hook: we talk about non-writing programs (and tools) that we use in our process. Next episode it will be writing-related groups that have helped or hindered our progress as authors. Links to all the places I can be found online: https://alanlangford.com/places