Is it writer?
I’ve written plenty before. I wrote reviews of board games, a blog series about my business, tried my hand at poetry and lyrics. During lockdown, I got a job as a content writer for a marketing company. Hated it. Most of the writing I’ve done has been largely for my own amusement, or the amusement of my friends. I used to own and operate a tabletop gaming cafe. As such, I’ve played and run a lot of tabletop RPGs; D&D, Call of Cthulhu, Cyberpunk, you name it. In my experience, running games like these requires A LOT of writing, but for me, it was mostly set pieces and descriptions, sometimes the odd dream sequence, not prose. That being said, I’ve dabbled. A terrible short story here, an unfinished screenplay there. I’ve given the whole novel thing a shot before too, not really understanding the scale of the undertaking, and, as you might imagine, failing miserably after a chapter or two.
So, why now?
As I write this, I’m in my van. A self-converted campervan, parked on a small patch of land on the outskirts of a sleepy village in the south of France. My wife and I have been traveling through Europe for the last month, and plan to keep going for at least a year. I’ve always needed a creative outlet to feel like I’m worth a damn, and for a long time that’s been music. I’ve played guitar since I was 10 and took up piano a couple of years ago, but writing is something that’s been both very difficult and very fulfilling for me. So, I’ve given myself the goal of writing this novel while we travel.
But, since I also want to, you know, enjoy traveling and experience Europe in all its glory, the idea of locking myself away to focus on writing isn’t so appealing.
Writing while we travel also means I get to write in some awesome places.
So, I’ve set a target of writing just 500 words per day. It’s not much. For me, it’s been taking around an hour, sometimes more, so it’s not too much of a time commitment. It also lets me sit back and digest what I’ve written, check in with my plan for the story, and make sure it’s progressing in a way I’m happy with.
And, it means that in 6 months or so, I’ll have a first draft that I can start to consider publishing.
All of which, I’ll be documenting along the way.
What kind of novel are we talking?
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a fan of science fiction. When I was young, Star Trek was always on TV. The original series was a favourite of my dad’s, but Next Generation was what really gave me my first taste of modern(ish) sci-fi. From there my fascination with the genre just kept blooming.
These days I consider myself fairly well-read in the sci-fi sphere. I’ve done my homework, stepped out of my comfort zone, formed my own opinions, all the stuff that’s expected of an aficionado. Not that I call myself that. Still just a little fanboy reading his space books.
So I’m writing a sci-fi novel.
Why Substack?
Couple reasons.
The first is accountability. I have a really terrible habit of starting things. I’ll start a thing then, once I’ve run out of steam, just stop.
Grind to a halt.
Now, I really don’t want that to happen with this project, and so far, keeping up with the ‘500 words per day’ thing has been pretty manageable. Coupled with the motivation to have written a full, actual, real-life novel in a few months, I think having subscribers to keep me honest will be a huge help.
Let’s be real. I don’t want to let anyone down, I’m too much of a people-pleaser for that. Particularly people who are potentially sending me their hard-earned money for the words I write.
The other reason is opportunity.
Specifically, the opportunity to build an audience. I haven’t spent much time cultivating an audience before, especially not for my writing ‘career’. However, Substack’s model seems like it could be an excellent place to do just that.
So, fingers crossed, maybe I’ll find a few people who are willing to, or even enjoy reading my writings, whether it’s the novel itself, or my personal account of the process.
Or maybe they’ll find me.
Why subscribe, though?
Well, hey, it’s your time, your money, your attention. All I can really tell you about is what I’m going to be posting and if you’d like to read that kinda stuff regularly, or support me in my endeavor to do it, then consider subscribing.
Everyone who subscribes will receive a bi-weekly (maybe more) post about my experience with various aspects of the process of writing a novel. Character creation, plot writing, planning, problems, and later, publishing, agents, editing, and proofreading.
Basically, the whole shebang. I’ll be writing about it.
If you’re a paid subscriber, you’ll get to read the novel chapter by chapter as I post them on opposite weeks from the regular blog posts. You’ll also have the opportunity to give me feedback directly, engage with me about everything I post, and you’ll be the first to know about any news relating to the book. Like, perhaps, a book deal or when it’ll be published, maybe even preorders.
And hey, maybe it’ll appeal to both novice writers and actual authors alike. Maybe it’ll help someone like me who’s tried to write a novel before and failed or given up. Maybe it’ll be interesting for authors to read about the perspective of someone who is coming into the novel writing world (and industry) almost completely blind.
The future (and potential) of it are still up for definition.
Thanks for reading!