I've written very little this month, and I haven't been happy with what I've written. In fact, I don't think I've completed a story in June. That said, I'm still ahead of my goal for the year. I've written 30 stories so far in 2021, and that's more than one a week.
Yesterday and today I was in a situation where computer problems prevented me from doing very much at work, and as a consequence, I read through a bunch of my stories from earlier in the year -- starting with story 410, It's Complicated, and reading through to story 424 My Clone Sleeps Alone, so 14 stories total. These encompass some random tales of Grandpa Anarchy working with Glory Ashes as they confront various villains, and then I start stringing together stories that are related and clearly follow one after the other. Mostly I think these stories hold up well, and tell a coherent story arc. There's I, Gardener and Maid Ex Machina, which deal with two of the new robotic members of the Anarchy Mansion (I had always planned a third one which I still haven't written). Then comes Infinite Dojo, Princess of Pluto, and The Return of Normal, all of which more or less work I think. These cover the new complex beneath the Anarchy Cave, Magical Girl Anne Arqui and the palace on Pluto, and the resurrection of St. Normal.
After that we have three more stories that lead to Miss Anarchy and her great-granddaughters winding up in space, and a series of stories that happen while they're in space. Here is where I've had problems the last few months.
First, I felt that the stories at this point become less episodic and more random, even though they all happen in space. I had wanted to write a series of space adventure stories, but I'd only managed one, Girl Squared, followed by a bunch of weirder and more esoteric stories (which, I like some of these stories but I felt like there wasn't a thread connecting them all together.)
Second, I had written a story in which Miss Anarchy gets married and decides to stay a girl, and it felt like I really hadn't set all of that up well at all, so it really didn't make sense.
Thus in May I first tried to backpedal and "fill in the blanks" a bit, and come up with one or more stories to help explain/set up where I was going with the marriage better... then I backpedalled further to pen a few simple space adventures to take place before things get weirder. Ultimately I plotted some stories that never really got off the ground, and I managed to write two "space adventure" stories that I guess are okay, and I half-wrote three others -- Uncanny Valley, Woofy, and Good Vibrations.
My story numbering is out of whack because I want the space adventure stories (some of which I'm still trying to write) to take place at the start of their adventures in space, and then I want to write 1-2 stories that take place between Mating Ritual and Afterglow to help set that plotline up better. Once I get those stories written, I can renumber all of my completed stories.
Anyway, here's what I've written in 2021:
413 I Swear
414 Collateral Damage
415 I, Gardener
416 Maid Ex Machina
417 Infinite Dojo
418 Princess of Pluto
419 The Return of Normal
042 Hot Stuff
420 Get Down Tonight
421 Free Advertising
422 Inevitable
423 All I Ever Wanted
424 My Clone Sleeps Alone
425 Girl Squared
426 Wrong Number
427 Doomscrolling
428 Endorsement
429 Transformations
430 Frills and Bows
431 Mating Ritual
432 Afterglow
433 My Own Daughter
434 Ambassador
435 Real Girl
436 Academy
437 Hate Crime
438 Revenge
440 Powerslave
426 Amaranthine Shores
427 The Spice of Life
"Space Adventure" stories that I'm currently trying to work on: Good Vibrations, Woofy, Nova, and Uncanny Valley. And then Becoming Anarchy/Marry Her.
Other stories I plan to write very soon: Ghost, Kitten, possibly Frienemies, Becoming the Story and Noticeable One.
