The Prime – Halftime Report

NASA – Public Domain

I have been writing my current novel — tentatively titled The Prime — for three months now, and I’m halfway through. That means it’s time for a halftime report, just like during a sports game, or any project where the participants want to assess their work so far. It’s good to see if we’re meeting our goals, and to plan the strategy for the second half.

Unlike my last book — The Plainsrunner — this one isn’t being shared in a serialization as I write it. At least not yet. That serialization was good in many ways, and I mostly enjoyed it. On the negative side, it was a lot of work, and that effort didn’t result in much return. Not only did it not result in many sales, it also didn’t even result in any reviews, and that has left me feeling that there wouldn’t be much point in doing another one.

I would like to say that I’m enjoying writing this book, but it feels strange to not be sharing it as we go. In addition to the serialization of the last one, I have shared portions of other uncompleted novels too. The first one, Green Comet, was released whole and complete. The second one, Parasite Puppeteers, was released as eight extensions, and The Francesians as four. I discovered as I went that there’s a lot of work involved in proofing and formatting and releasing and announcing several different versions of a story, and four is easier than eight. Now, with The Prime, it looks as if I’ve brought it down to zero. Right back to the first one.

So, what am I enjoying about writing The Prime? What I always enjoy about writing. Thinking every day about the growing story. Seeing it develop as I write it, seeing what happens next. Learning more about my characters as I get to know them better. Showing them where we’re going, and following along as they take us there. And sometimes reining them in as they head off in directions of their own.

It’s a bit lonelier this time, writing the whole thing without sharing it as we go, but a writer’s life is supposed to be a lonely one, isn’t it?

So there’s the halftime report on my novel, The Prime. So far, so good. Now it’s another three months of writing, then there’s the proofing, preparing it for publication and recording it. Oh yeah, and finding an image for it. Pen up, head down and back to work.

rjb