Novel update: editing & short stories

November 7, 2013

It’s probably about time I give you an update on that novel of mine, eh?

On the book itself, word on the street is that my editor is going to finish going over it in the next few days, which means I’ll be able to start on my third draft soon! (After I crawl up in a ball and cry for a while. Writing is nothing if not humbling). I’m super grateful he’s taking so much time to help me out. Using his feedback I’m going to tighten up the story in preparation for getting it in the hands of more proofreaders.

But I haven’t been idle in the meantime! While my first book is under the knife, I’ve been writing short stories in the same universe.

You see, I’m a big fan of long, “epic” series, so I always intended this one to span multiple novels, but I also think there’s value in shorter, non-vital “filler” or “fluff” stories – in fact, I’ve written a post about this before. Unfortunately 200+ pages is a bit much for these kinds of stories.

That’s why I’ve decided to adopt what I call the Full Metal Panic approach – creating plot-focused main novels (Season 1, The Second Raid) interspersed with more lighthearted, “episodic” short stories (Fumoffu). This allows me to have my cake and eat it to, as long as I’m willing to write more stories.

Oh my, however will I ever survive!

So that’s what I’ve been working on. I’ve already finished a draft of the first short story, and I think I’ll churn out one for the second short story before I get back to editing the novel. My goal is to have a few short stories ready to go shortly after the book itself, which means if it doesn’t suck and you all enjoy it, there will be more coming soon.