New book, who dis??
Sep. 14th, 2023 03:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rainwatersparkRemember how I said I was going to take a break from writing this year?
Hahahaha. Yeah. I remember that, too.
So, guess who's NOT taking a break from writing this year???
I started a new project in July. I was very hesitant to commit to it, because if traditional publishers don't think Novel #4 is commercial, then this book is absolutely the opposite of commercial. It's deeply influenced by the kind of genre-blending fanfiction I used to read, as well as Chinese xianxia/wuxia danmei novels such as The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, Heaven Official's Blessing, and The Husky and His White Cat Shizun. There are anime-style fight scenes and meditations on grief, loss, and depression mixed with sweet, fluffy romantic scenes. Basically, all the genre-blending that traditional publishing does not want.
I wrote the first 4 chapters in a feverish sprint over one weekend, as a kind of "proof of concept." Then I sent them to some beta readers.
Aaaand of course, being the enablers they are, my beta readers all encouraged me to keep writing. Lol.
Anyway, my current plan is to try to write the first 50% of this book (with a target wordcount of 45k words, minimum) by the end of the month. It sounds ludicrous, but I already have nearly 30k words down, plus I'm taking some time off from work next week, so it's potentially doable. Though, of course, all of my deadlines are self-imposed, so it's not like there's any consequence for missing them.
I also have a pretty detailed outline for the first half of this book, while the second half is...decidedly more vague. So I'm thinking of getting beta reader feedback on the first half while taking a pause from drafting to actually, you know, figure out the second half, haha.
It's been therapeutic and cathartic to use this story as a way to vent my angry feelings about my publishing journey and the industry. I'm keeping my expectations low, though I guess I have a history of writing my best work when I can detach myself from the pressures of the publishing industry. I'm having fun, and that's the most important thing.
I think it's probably a good thing that I've never really thought about a long-term writing career, because the financial realities are too unstable for that to be possible for most authors. I just write whatever stories I'm passionate about and want to share with readers. If I ever ran out of stories to tell, I guess I'd stop. But until then, I just take writing one story at a time.
Hahahaha. Yeah. I remember that, too.
So, guess who's NOT taking a break from writing this year???
I started a new project in July. I was very hesitant to commit to it, because if traditional publishers don't think Novel #4 is commercial, then this book is absolutely the opposite of commercial. It's deeply influenced by the kind of genre-blending fanfiction I used to read, as well as Chinese xianxia/wuxia danmei novels such as The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, Heaven Official's Blessing, and The Husky and His White Cat Shizun. There are anime-style fight scenes and meditations on grief, loss, and depression mixed with sweet, fluffy romantic scenes. Basically, all the genre-blending that traditional publishing does not want.
I wrote the first 4 chapters in a feverish sprint over one weekend, as a kind of "proof of concept." Then I sent them to some beta readers.
Aaaand of course, being the enablers they are, my beta readers all encouraged me to keep writing. Lol.
Anyway, my current plan is to try to write the first 50% of this book (with a target wordcount of 45k words, minimum) by the end of the month. It sounds ludicrous, but I already have nearly 30k words down, plus I'm taking some time off from work next week, so it's potentially doable. Though, of course, all of my deadlines are self-imposed, so it's not like there's any consequence for missing them.
I also have a pretty detailed outline for the first half of this book, while the second half is...decidedly more vague. So I'm thinking of getting beta reader feedback on the first half while taking a pause from drafting to actually, you know, figure out the second half, haha.
It's been therapeutic and cathartic to use this story as a way to vent my angry feelings about my publishing journey and the industry. I'm keeping my expectations low, though I guess I have a history of writing my best work when I can detach myself from the pressures of the publishing industry. I'm having fun, and that's the most important thing.
I think it's probably a good thing that I've never really thought about a long-term writing career, because the financial realities are too unstable for that to be possible for most authors. I just write whatever stories I'm passionate about and want to share with readers. If I ever ran out of stories to tell, I guess I'd stop. But until then, I just take writing one story at a time.
