Writing goals met and unmet

I had several goals when I started writing Seeds of Calamity, which I outlined a year and 2 months ago:

• Outline start to finish before drafting: I failed this miserably. I had no outline for two-thirds of the book, and those are the plot-heavy sections. I tended to plot in my head about a chapter in advance of what I was writing at the time. When I started, I had inklings of set pieces I wanted to do, and only vague notions of how they would fit together. Having a clear outline from the outset will be a goal for my next big writing project.
• Told from the perspective of just one character: I managed this well. I discovered in the early going that I did not have the luxury of a passive leading man if he was going to hold the reader's interest. So I gave Felton, my leading man, a bias for action so he would drive the plot. Also, the limited perspective opened up opportunities for surprises in the plot. I'll devote an entire post to what I learned about limited perspective later.
• Prominent female character: I'm proud of what I was able to do with Greta, introducing her toward the end of the first act and giving her just enough characterization and backstory to be interesting. She has agency in the plot and I love her partnering with Felton in the second act. The trust and friendship that develops between them was a highlight for me as a writer.
• Shorter chapters (average 5,000 words): This came naturally with a tighter writing style that was more focused on plot than on scenery, which was the biggest complaint I heard about my first book, Tendrils to the Moon. For Seeds, the prologue and 15 chapters together come out to just over 75,000 words, 5,000 words short of my initial goal, but I'll take it.

Something different I did with Seeds was get my wife to edit the book and involve her in plotting the second and third acts. She was great in smoothing out stilted character interactions, especially when it came to Greta, and asking for more or less exposition at various points. She certainly earned her editor credit. The book is better because of her.

Obviously the writing went much slower with this second book. I averaged almost 1,000 words per day on Tendrils, a pace I was proud of. On Seeds, not so much: less than 200 words per day. I'll get into the reasons for that some other time.

The overarching goal was to improve as a writer. I believe I did, and it shows in the quality of the product. See for yourself. Seeds of Calamity is available in paperback and ebook.

As always, let me know what you think in the comment section below. I'll reply to you as soon as I can.