Going Forward

After taking the summer off to spend time with the family while my son was out of school… and then taking three more months off via being lazy, I’ve finally figured out what I want to do in regards to writing.

Short version: I want to write, and I want to give people something to read.

You’d think those are simple goals, but I’ve managed to make them complicated. However, using the same creativity needed to complicate something so simple, I’ve also managed to conjure up a solution to my own problem.

When it comes to writing, I want to do two things. I want to write books with the ultimate goal of self-publishing, and I want to write flash-fiction at a consistent pace to draw in a readerbase. While I’ve done poorly at creating flash-fiction at a consistent rate, I have managed to write a book. An entire first draft is done with several chapters of a second draft completed. Yay. Go me.

Here comes the slight curveball though: the book I wrote is for a story I pulled from nothing.

While I enjoyed lifting a story from a very basic concept, stripping out parts that didn’t work and eventually crafting a book from the remains, the story itself was never something I was personally invested in. It’s a fun adventure, a solid horror story with characters that act in a reasonable way, but it isn’t the kind of story I tell from the heart. For years, I’ve had an idea rattling away in the back of my mind that I’ve wanted to tell. At one point I did try to tell it, but I found my ability was lacking. I put it off until my skills could tell the story in a way I felt appropriate. Now, some years later, I feel my ability has arrived and the time has come to try again.

But what of the book I wrote? It’d be a shame to abandon that after spending so much time on it. So here’s the plan:

I work on my new story (book), the one I adore and have personal ties to, the one that’s been rattling in my brain for so much time. While doing so, I’ll also post my completed horror story chapter by chapter with the hopes of drawing people in for reading and growing my readerbase. This is good in that it gives people something to read and also prevents a completed book from languishing in abandonment. This idea also motivates me to complete the second draft and finish my book in a proper way, ultimately putting me in a position to sell an e-book. Yes, it’ll already exist for free on this website, but that’s fine. I consider it practice, and I really want to complete that project. Having an audience waiting (hopefully) for each chapter will push me forward.

So that’s the plan. Post a completed book here while working on another. I don’t have any real timelines associated with these ideas. My rough goal is to post at least one chapter a week with the completed story. I’ll work on the new story as my interest allows. Last year, when I was writing the book I now intend to post, my goal was to write 3k words a week. I’ll keep that goal as a baseline, but I have no idea if it’s something I’ll meet. Basically, I’m not going to worry about it.

As far as the book I’ll be posting here goes, it’s a horror story with a good dose of fantasy/western stirred in. If you’re interested, keep your eyes open. Chapter One should be posting within the next couple days. Hopefully you enjoy it.