2015 WORD COUNT= 125517
An improvEment
Two years ago I set out on a
journey, one that I thought I’d started so many years ago. I wanted to be a
writer, always had. I loved coming up with stories, loved creating characters.
But I’d never treated it as anything more than something to pass the time,
something just for me to enjoy, something to sit in the huge collection of
notebooks and folders, and never see the light of day.
I’d been dragging my feet. Because
if I write, then I’m a writer, right? But if I don’t take myself seriously, why
should I expect other people to.
So I started this blog, stuck my
face out there, and said hello to the world. I opened the door to the little
broom cupboard I’d been writing in (note: a metaphorical broom cupboard) and
set about doing something about it all.
I’ll be the first to admit that
year one saw me dreaming a little too high. Sure, there’s nothing wrong with
launching right out the starting gate and laying a work down; giving it a
cover, a price, and unleashing into digital bookstores. But I wanted something without
knowing what I wanted. Should I write a new novel, fix an old one, or collect
some short stories together? I started it all, and at the same time, never
really started any of it.
And then Flash Fiction gripped
me, focused me, and showed me how to slow down and concentrate on things. I wrote
outside my comfort zones, worked to deadlines, and met like-minded people all
wanting the same thing; to write and be read.
Sure, I never got my own work out
there by Christmas 2014 (my original mission), but I did have work out there. And it was grouped with
other awesome work, bound in a professional cover. And you could buy it. I
could buy it. Most importantly, my mother could buy it. I ended that year on a
high, and figured I was more on track, hoping that things could only get
better.
So why did I go and let myself
down. Again.
Let’s see what happened.
THE FANTASY WAS JUST A FANTASY
I’d started the year with a big
project at the forefront, an episodic fantasy tale to be published here
fortnightly. It was a culmination of six months planning, years of notes, and a
whole NaNo worth of writing.
And it only lasted eleven
episodes.
It just wasn’t working. I wrote
the first draft during NaNoWriMo 2014 and then edited the first couple of
episodes after Christmas, all while planning where the story was going after
those first 50,000 words. Yet the more I wrote, the more a different story rose
up from within it. I was struggling to write something that didn’t want to be
written, all while trying to ignore the story that really did. And it was
already out there, so I didn’t have the editing wriggle room I needed.
All I could do was pull the plug.
It was still early days. It was a brave move and some people were a little
annoyed (sorry Emma, sorry Jo). But it needed to go back to the drawing board, to be
reworked and rereleased. FRACTURED DAWN
episodes 1-11 were a lesson, one I won’t forget in a hurry.
To those few that were enjoying
the adventures of Cook, he will be back, I promise. And it will be better.
I hope.
THE ROAD TO VICTORY – THE FLASH FICTION STORY
2015 saw me still chasing Flash Fiction
wins across three contests. I’d been close a couple of times and I had finally realised
that I was just waiting for that combo of prompt, story, and judge.
Amazingly I didn't have to wait long. January saw me obtain my first
ever Flash Fiction win over at Angry Hourglass. ROLL BACK, a bittersweet tale of a man and his time travelling roller-skates
(I swear I don’t do drugs) was unexpected enough for the results page to
give me whiplash with a double take. I’d finally won with one of my stories and
I felt a huge weight lift. It was another confidence boast. Maybe I wasn’t too
bad at this writing lark after all.
Things carried on getting better with
a further three wins through the first quarter of 2015. There was THE CLIMB, a story of marital abuse and
revenge, CLOSING TIME, where a
waitress’ life is spared by pure luck, and STRANGERS
THINGS, the sad story of a cataclysmic event and two lovers who may be torn
apart by the fallout.
It was late July when a results
page brought tears to my eyes. BEHROUZ
AND THE FORTUNE FISH, my Middle Eastern fairy tale, got me my Flash!
Fiction win. It was something special, to reach the goal I’d been chasing for
over a year. While the Hourglass wins boasted me with confidence on a
professional level, the Flash! Friday win was something personal because it was the contest that had started it all for me. Happy doesn’t
do it justice.
And the set wouldn’t have been
complete with a win at Micro Bookends, which I did in style in early September
with a one-two. WHEN THE STUDENT BECOMES
THE MASTER was the story of an under-educated father fearing the moment when
his two young children surpass him mentally.
While these wins are just a
handful of happy Flash Fiction memories (I even tried my hand a judging which
was more fun than I expected), the year ended on a sad note; two of the
contests I’d been enjoying (and thought would last forever) where shutting
down. It was like heading into the woods with your friends and finding that the
den you built last summer had been burnt to the ground. It was a hole. The community
was still there (they're awesome like that) but two of our clubhouses had
disappeared. Would things be the same?
I guess we’ll find out next year.
THE ANTHOLOGIES STRIKE BACK
In 2014 I wrote a lot of stories.
If you go onto Amazon right now, you can pick up an Anthology that has four of them
in it. How cool is that? For as long as I can remember, I’ve dreamed of having my
words available to people who don’t know me and now it’s possible.
2015 saw the FlashDogs doing it
again with the second Anthology, a two-parter based on the theme of Solstice.
And they invited me along for the ride once more. One Anthology is spectacular, two
is a dream come true . . . so when the third one comes out next year I have no
idea how that will feel. Visit often and I will keep you updated, but whispers
hint at a February release.
DIDN’T SEE THAT COMING – THE BIRTH OF CHRIS AND MIKE
When I started this blog I couldn’t
have predicted the side step it would take from novels and short stories into
this thing called Flash Fiction. So it’s apt, perhaps, that this year saw
another left field surprise in the form of two characters who not only wouldn’t
go away, but grew into my main project from this past year, and look like taking up
all of my 2016.
A throw away comment was all it
took for me to take two characters from a one off 100 word Flash Fiction story
and turn it into an epic ongoing series. What started as two crazy friends
fighting off zombies spawned an adventure through time, monsters that thrived
on music, the death of a stuffed toy, and a family legacy that could hold the
key to it all. Like the bastard child of Buffy, Supernatural, and Doctor Who,
each week saw me invent crazy new threats and crazier new scenarios. And each
week the plot threatened to strangle me as the cast of recurring characters
grew. And let’s not forget that fan base.
In fact it all grew so much, I
had no choice but to drop all other projects and make something out of the mess
I’d laid down at Micro Bookends.
Which kind of leads me to my 2015
NaNoWriMo efforts . . .
SHUT OFF THAT EDITOR – THE NANO WAY
It started in July.
I knew that I could expand the
100 words CHRIS AND MIKE vs THE WORLD
stories, but going novel length was too much. So I settled on Novella length
(about 25,000 words) and set about the planning.
I also knew that NaNoWriMo was my
best bet at getting my head down and powering through the project, but that was
too far off. So I decided to try July’s CampNaNoWriMo for a second year running.
I’d focus on the first book, a smaller goal (going for half my November
target), and see if it could even work.
And it did. Better than I
thought. I had something. Sure, it wouldn’t hit NYT bestseller lists or win any
prestigious awards, but it felt like something I’d like to read and that is all
I really want to do. Sure, other people reading it is amazing, but I can’t write
for other people. Other people can like what I write.
Right?
So I carried the optimism though
the following months, expanding on everything that had come before, building
backstories and deepening the plot. In November I sat down and wrote the first
draft of the next two novellas.
If all goes to plan (and planning
is my New Year’s resolution) I’ll have those books in your hands at some point
next year. Because damn it, I came here to chew bubble gum and publish books.
And I’m all outta bubble gum.
STAYING CONSISTENT
I got wins, I had work published,
and I feel like I’ve finally got a project that can sustain me. But that’s not
the main thing I’ve taken from 2015.
All those years of half-hearted
efforts, false starts, and abandoned stories; distractions left right and
centre. Video games, girls, new story ideas. It all got in the way.
2015 had me doing one thing right
above all else; writing consistently. NaNo helped as always, but the weekly Flash
contests did the most work on that front. And although Flash! Fiction and Micro
Bookends are gone, their legacy sits on my hard drive (and several back up
memory sticks) with a massive collection of stories and characters that wouldn’t
have been there without them. And while it’s not all gold, perhaps I can find
some gems among the dirt.
And I will write more regularly
next year too. Like I said, it’s about planning. Its deadlines and word counts.
It’s getting ideas on paper. You can’t edit what you don’t have. And my imagination
isn’t done yet.
REFRESHING
And that’s my 2015 as far as
writing is concerned. Contests have fallen away, I still haven’t accomplished
my goal of being published with my own project, and, as always, I only have
myself to blame. But I’m closer still. I can feel it.
A big thank you to all of you
that have supported me in 2015. Whether it’s comments, tweets, or just reading
this blog, it is all very much appreciated. And when I’m all big and famous,
you can say that you remember when I started a blog and my spelling was atrocious
and I just waffled on about this project and that project.
Won’t that be funny?
Next year will see a change up in
blog format. Weekly is killing me and causing me to worry about what I’m doing instead
of just doing it. So 2016 see’s the blog go fortnightly. For those three people
reading, I hope this doesn’t frustrate you, and I assure you it’s for the best
in the long run.
So with this, my 100th
blog post, I say for the last time . . .
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