Ice Pirates III

22 July 17 Draft Finished!

I'm putting the Ice Pirates story off to the side for a week or two, letting it marinate and see how it ages. It's a good first draft, just over 8,000 words. Finished in a marathon late-night session a few days ago. I had a sudden burst of 'Let's get this done!' 

I've sent the draft out to a few Beta readers to get some feedback, including my wife, though the genre is not her style. I really appreciate her input. Also had a good review session on Skype with one of the readers from the Creative Writers Facebook group. 

When I pick the story up again and apply any edits the final draft will probably be somewhere between 9-10K. Too big for the original outlet I was going to send it to, so I'll see about farming it out to other publishers. Might even make this my first Kindle Direct novel. 

Although I don't write with a certain mood or influence in mind, upon reflection, I hope the piece has a Fifth Element feel to it: some adventure, some comedy (in this case through the character Cheeks), some wow factor in there too. I look forward to writing some more stories involving Sea Dog, Cheeks, Winder, and Captain Connor as well. Got a good little crew there. I thought I would have more fun writing the pirates but it turned out I enjoyed the regular sailors more. Well, regular is a relative term in this case. :)

For those aspiring writers out there, steps to remember when writing: 
1. Write a complete first draft. This step is the hardest sometimes!
2. Give your story to a few readers to look over. Whether you have an editor or just some good friends, every writer misses something.
3. Put your writing aside for a few days. This can be done over the same time input from your readers is coming in. This gives your brain some time to subconsciously work on your story.
4. Review any inputs from your readers and then read your story again. Read with a fresh set of eyes and those inputs from your readers.
5. Incorporate any changes or inputs that you agree with from your readers and any new ideas you have. Notice I didn't say just add in any inputs from your readers. It's your story! You're the final say on what goes in there.


Time to take a little break from writing and get back to my day job. Going to see what inspiration hits me after that. Good luck to all the writers out there! Maybe I'll do a little drawing next. My daughters like to draw, they inspire me to do some doodling again. They are both better than I am, by the way. 

Good luck to all, happy creating!

Picture for today: Santa Pirate!