I Should Have Known - Mainly Writing Stuff

Who am I kidding, this is practically all writing stuff but it's more about me being an idiot with writing stuff included in the mix. 

It went something like this... I very clearly, absolutely, 100% committed to not writing a novel in November. I put it in black and white in a post here if you want a snicker. I was absolutely and utterly signed up to do loads of editing, tidying, converting and general writing housekeeping this month. Absolutely not writing a novel. Under no circumstances. Not at all!

So, as it happens, Royal Road launched a Writathon to write 55,555 words by 5th of December with a way point on 15th November when particpants need to reach 25,000 words. Of course I signed up! Dammit. 

I'll be honest, it's not looking good at me making the 25,000 words by 15th of November, which is five days away and over 20,000 words to go. However it's not bad for me to make the attempt. I have a huge backlog of ideas and I want to try and write at a faster pace. I can look at this as training, if you like. 

The brutal truth is that I can maybe walk or stand for five minutes without excruciating back pain. I don't have much in the way of current office and tech skills and I have tinnitus which limits my ability to do phone work. Writing is the best chance of me earning money to help bear through university. I doubt I'll make much - most writers don't, especially with all the AI stuff around - but the chances of me making anything are vastly increased if I write loads and publish loads. So I've taken the challenge on.  It won't make me money, but I think that it will be like a gym for the rest of my writing and I'll take it.

I didn't particularly want to mess around with a novel. The next big things for me involve a lot of planning and thinking and I also have a habit of junking the first 25,000 words of any big project so a novel wouldn't be a good idea for me. Besides, Royal Road isn't really set up like that. It's more for things like the White Hart. 

And speaking of White Hart, I wanted something that I could put into that place. I wanted a setting where I could dip in and add a small story every Monday just to keep me mentally moving, even if the rest of the writing was stuck. Then I remembered The Guest which was a failed anthology submission and which I'd kind of liked. So I decided that it would be the start of a new set of stories. And those stories would be perfect for Royal Road. And so, I got started. The first instalment, The Guest, won't count towards the word total, which is fair enough.

Currently, the plan is to publish as I go on Royal Road. The page is here, if you're interested and any honest reviews would be welcome but only if you feel like it. These will look very much like first draft, because that's what they are. However, I've put the first instalment up on my writing blog, here, and each of the chapters will be released one at a time on Mondays, which will probably take it up to the New Year. There won't be much materially changed in these chapters, but I'll scan them over for typos and grammar before they go live on my blog. 

The Guest isn't quite The White Hart. The setting is similar, but not exactly the same, and there'll be a new cast of characters which I hope will be fun. I'd love to hear what you think. 

As for what I'll get up to when it comes to stuff like the garden or housewifery or knitting - who knows? I have no idea! Given that I should be writing, I'll probably have a miniature version of Kew Gardens at the front of my house and a whole wardrobe knitted by 5th December. Sometimes I wish that I was a little more predictable. Please wish me luck.

Hugs and good health to all.