Summary:
Tons of stuff going on, both within my brain and without, this week. It feels like a renaissance of my creativity. Now I just have to capitalise on it and get some work done!
Monday:
I’ve been asking my subconscious crew for some insight into which big writing project I should launch into, now that the novel is on hiatus for three months, and I got my answer this morning. The one I keep coming back to is the comic book series idea, but I have no idea how to progress it as a comic book, because it’s so far outside my skillset and I don’t feel I have the time or the energy to dedicate to learning how to do it. But the story excites me, so I’ve decided that I’m going to work on it as a prose piece, since that’s what I know how to do, and see what happens. It’s really good to have a clear sense of the way forwards, after several weeks of directionless lack of progress.
I attended my usual writing date with Ann, and wrote the first 1250 words of a short story for an upcoming competition.
Tuesday:
I went to an enjoyable and useful London Writers’ Cafe event about getting short stories published. The speaker was Rupert Dastur, editor of TSS Publishing, and he was very personable and knowledgeable about his subject. But he suggested so many things to read, research, follow and take part in, that I had to wonder – where does anyone find the time and the energy to dedicate to all this stuff? Don’t get me wrong – I’d love to do more of it myself, but I find it difficult enough to carve out time to write during the week! On the plus side, I wrote so many notes that I almost filled up my current writing notebook – and you know what that means…
A trip to Paperchase!
Wednesday:
I went to Paperchase at lunchtime, spent twenty minutes inspecting every notebook in the shop, and came away with a lovely little owl-themed spiral-bound pad, spending only £6. That’s quite an achievement.
After work, I met up with some of the writers from the Six Month Novel Programme and we did what writers do when we’re together. We commiserated about our struggles, provided moral and emotional support, bolstered each other’s confidence, discussed different methods of getting things done, and generally had a good old chinwag. The others were all very enthusiastic about the comic book idea, so I packed some materials to help me work on it on my long tube journey to and from Hounslow tomorrow.
Thursday:
The good old subconscious crew came up with a ton of ideas for the initial antagonist in the comic book series, which is now not going to be a comic book series (or at least not at first). So, I spent a large part of my journey home from Hounslow writing notes about her, as planned.
This story is definitely now in my head, and I’m really excited about working on it, so I’ve definitely made the right decision.
Friday:
The subconscious crew came up with another whole load of great stuff while I was in the shower, presenting me with all the details for the second half of the story that went through the Master’s Review Workshop. I’d evidently been thinking about it on some level all week, and now I have a really good extension and ending for it.
Saturday:
I woke up to an email from the editor of Lyonesse fantasy and science-fiction magazine, saying they wanted to actually pay me for a short story I submitted to them in August. This is my first acceptance since I started only submitting to paying markets. Plus, it’s for a story I love, but which has been rejected by four other publications. So, a really great start to the weekend!
I made two short story submissions, and also received news that one of my stories had been passed to the third reading stage of submission for a production company that produces fiction podcasts.
I helped Bear with his second post about our group gaming holiday.
I then revised the first chapter of the novel, based on the feedback I got from my editor last week, and also sent her the whole manuscript for a developmental edit she’s going to do by the end of the year.