I am writing this month’s update from the lobby of my hotel at Worldcon, off the back of my panel on Multidisciplinary Futures: Creating SFF Across Media, which I ended up moderating last minute. But enough about that here; I will get more into it in the Worldcon section. My writing progress has not been linear, as I decided to rework the outline for Project D and start over instead of going through drafting something I know I am not going to keep. As often happens, I chose to pivot somewhere in the middle of the time when you don’t get to hear from me.
Progress
I was supposed to have the first draft of Project D done, and I must report that I did not succeed in this. I know we are all disappointed, but I do believe that I made the right call. I needed to shift away from a nose-to-the-grindstone approach that would have likely gotten the word count I desired, but also would have burnt me out going into Worldcon, to a reoutline approach. I got to about 26k words in the draft and had submitted it to my writing group. They gave me some good critiques (that I mainly agreed with), and I found that to continue on in writing this draft as it stood was pointless, as I would have to change so much that I might as well not write the remaining 40k words. I am significantly through the reoutline and hope to finish the reoutline while I travel back from the convention so that I can jump right back into drafting when I am home.
Even with the pivot, I did nearly 15k words this month, and I feel alright about that number. It isn’t nearly where I wanted it to be this month, but I feel better prepared going into the fall. This means that even throughout school this fall, I should be able to draft without much work. Essentially, I took the time off between semesters to do a significant amount of heavy legwork that should make everything else easier this fall while school is happening. I will also note that I thought I had three weeks off between semesters, but it looks like I actually ended up with about two weeks.
Worldcon
This is my second Worldcon, so I am coming this year only with my ideas of what last year was, and I do have to say, the energy is much different this year. It’s lower energy than Seattle Worldcon was, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t fun and full of benefits.
I arrived at the convention the day before and am leaving early in the morning (a 3 am pickup from my hotel) due to the fact that my flight got moved up from 8 am to 6 am. So that is going to be a very fun thing to contend with tomorrow. I also got sick within the first two days of the con, so an already hectic and draining convention became a bit dire. My energy levels are only just now returning to normal, and I am realizing just how much being under the weather took from me this year. All that said, I will still say that this Worldcon has, by and large, been a success.
I was on two panels (the one on multidisciplinary futures and SFF across media), one of which I was pulled into as a moderator last minute, and with the help of my friend, we came up with questions that I think served the panel well. However, in service of being a good moderator, I didn’t quite say as much as I probably should have about my own work and process, but c’est la vie. I did have someone from the mycology panel audience come up to me later at a party, and she remembered my name even though I’d forgotten my badge in my hotel room. That was a pretty nice encounter and lovely conversation.
I also had a great time hanging out with friends and meeting new ones. So much of Worldcon is the relationships that you build. I sometimes call it networking (which it is), but I find I prefer to call it relationship building. Networking reminds me of going to an event as a part of the entrepreneurship academy I was a part of when I was in high school, and that was altogether a rather horrid affair, not because of the people or the event itself. Everything was lovely, and the food was on point. The problem was, I didn’t care. I didn’t have any reason to talk to people there, and I had no true way to connect because we didn’t have enough in common. This is never an issue at conventions like Worldcon. So, it means that I end up building more real relationships rather than just talking to people because I want something. The relationship itself is the goal. I met some authors, agents, and editors and altogether had a great time talking with everyone at the bar or at parties in the evening. I also had the added bit of meeting and interacting with other panelists. I do think I am likely to sign up for even more panels next year.
From what I hear, many of our international friends did not come this year, which does make me hopeful for next year’s Worldcon since it will take place in Montreal. I do have to come to terms with the fact that each year will be different and there won’t be much that I can have expectations for. This can be a little difficult as I am a planner and I really like being able to know what to expect, but the very nature of Worlcon is that it changes every year.
I am ending my time at the convention feeling hopeful for the future, and dreading going back to work on Wednesday (I work twelve-hour shifts two days in a row and then work into the weekend in order to still get my 40 hours). But the show must go on, and I’ll just have to sleep when I’m dead.
Liesure
While at Worldcon, I ended up getting back into Punisher and finished season 1. It was quite good and extraordinarily violent, but what else do you expect from Frank Castle? As for other leisure, I spent some time at the pool during Worldcon and have been reading a book called Fungipedia, which has been delightful so far.
I also started watching Ted Lasso as it was one of the options on the plane. I will probably watch it some more on the flight home. That is, if I’m not asleep.
What I’m Learning
I would love to say that I’m learning to roll with the punches, but I’m not. I still balk when my schedule changes, when my friends bail on me for dinner, when I go down to the bar and there are just a few too many people, and everything is so loud. No, I am not okay with any of that, but I have learned that I don’t need to do everything. I can never go to as many panels as I wish to. There are always at least two panels per hour that I want to go to, and usually there are significantly more. I always have to choose one. So, the real question is, why not choose to go to none of them if I need to take a break? This con, I skipped a lot more panels than I have in the past. Part of that is because I have already seen some panels, or they are just variations of ones I’ve seen. Now having gone to a couple of conventions, I also know that the panels will likely come up again at some point, so I don’t need to kill myself over going to everything.
Looking Foward
Now back to the books, I am still working on Project D. My hope is that I will be able to get the outline done before I get home on my flight or in airports on my way home. However, if I don’t, I should finish it and start drafting again within the first week of September. My pace on drafting will be slower simply by virtue of the fact that I am now back in school and homework will take up a significant amount of my time. I will not say that I will finish Project D in September, because I won’t, and that is okay. No, I find it far more likely that I will finish it by the end of October, which still keeps me on track with deadlines. After that, I will likely work on something new. I might go back to Cut Throat, but I’m not sure I have the time to do that story justice just yet. That story might be a sophomore novel. I might need something shorter and less complex to land an agent. Perhaps I start with the hook; that’s something I’ve never really done before. I usually start with a question. That has worked for me in the past, but it does make my stories particularly difficult to pitch. All that said, Project D is the priority. After it is done, I’m not sure what comes next, but I do know that, whatever it is, I will be happy when it arrives.
Having finished attending my last panel, I find myself once more in the hotel lobby working on this blog and, hopefully, the outline for Project D once I finish this blog post. However, after the panel I attended this afternoon on evolution in speculative fiction, I find that I very much want to start working on something new, something speculative, maybe hard sci-fi. Maybe I need to just start cranking out short stories. That would be rather delightful. If only there were more hours in the day, and if only there were more space between seats on planes so that I could work on my computer more easily during flights. Alas, it may be art that I work on, or maybe nothing at all.
Naomi
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