Forewyrd  : This is one of those posts which new writers might be able to take ‘something’ from: either take heart or ‘Gosh I must not do that‘ or something in between the two. It is also one that writers of some experience but little practical evidence of Reader Enthusiasm can ponder over and experience an  ‘Ah. Not Just Me Then’ interlude That said, there is an element of optimism,   

which is vital to an new writer or the dogged Indy adherent.

OK. Brutal Reality first. Harsh Facts. Simple report. No ‘Oh woe is me. Alas Alack’. Just events. Those of  who having following my blog for a while will know for a few years I worked on a Fantasy Trilogy.

It seemed reasonable. It was ‘Kindled’,  subjected to edits and a couple of those free promotions. Yet, as is the common danger of any indy-writer who takes the self-publishing path. Overall response. Minimal. I take responsibility for less than proper marketing and networking. A parody advertising type series of blogs was great fun, maybe too much and was a distraction. Much thanks to those who supported me.

Still. No matter how much of a realist you might be, you still kinda, sorta,….Hope.

Annnyyyyyyyyy-way!!

While waiting for some kind of indication there might be a wider interest in these works I naturally put my mind to new projects.

A lot of writers will know how it goes. No matter what, you still cannot help but give into the whisperings of whatever Muse of writing calls. Sometimes they are not gentle; whisperings as a sharp tug on the ear ‘ole and a harsh ‘Are you going to sit there just dithering about web surfing or just footling about with ‘Stuff,’ Write, write.

Those Muses would not leave me be, be they

Calliope (epic poetry fantasy)

Thalia (comedy- displaying something of the understated approach here)

Melpomene (Tragedy – another fine example of understatement)

(Actually it can be a real nuisance with those three all elbowing their way into a narrative. Particularly with Thalia and Melpomene ganging up and insisting you must have both elements to reflect a real narrative, then arguing who gets the bigger cut. All the while Calliope being of the Epic outlook is encouraging you to not use a sentence when a paragraph looks so much better.)

And supportin the call there was my own adage ‘Never Waste a Good World-Build,’ (Professionals and successful Indy Writers don’t!- so there!). My first mistake (which was naturally repeated) was to try and carry on from my trilogy or adapt into novel form a series of comically quirky parodies of the the fairy-tale style posts back in very early 2020, which ended just before Covid hit. The reason why the first didn’t work was probably because I had crammed all my good ideas on that narrative into the trilogy, and truth be known didn’t have much else to write, not without repeating myself. Brandon Sanderson or Joe Abercrombie I an’t. The reason why the second didn’t work was because you don’t easily turn quirky posts into solid books, the narrative collapses quite early on and the characters wandering about looking for funny things to do. A lesson learned.

Another lesson learned was. ‘Don’t footle around with other genres’. I did invest some time in an SF project in which the interstellar travel problem had been solved by an quantum approach using the theoretical ten / eleven dimension approach. It didn’t take, firstly because my science wasn’t all that deep and more importantly the characters simply were not enthusiastic about the project and didn’t seem to have much idea what they wanted to do after the first couple of chapters and there was more wandering about only in this case folk talking to each other.

Going through a period of ‘Not Bothering’ was a bad move. The Muses and the Characters from my previous trilogy descended on me. They nagged, cajoled, and even threatened, the latter in an existentialist sort of way.

It was obvious there would be no peace until another epic was undertaken.

On a sober note. I had been spend a great deal of time on the political side of my writing, and essentially looking for trouble from those I wanted to offend, but since I was not diving into FaceBook that didn’t happen. Which was just as well, a swim in that pool looking for targets can leave you as polluted as them; there’s no glory there. Put the hound back in the kennel. Far better to use the time to support those on WP whose views I agree with.

Thus being directed to get moving, I sat, mused, paced, pondered, ran through several possibilities, muttered a lot and ended up back with that parodies of the the fairy-tale style posts

Aureyborealice, A Fable in Several Parts…Part I

(Actually I – XIII)

Ah well, says I, let us not waste the bits and pieces of what might be a workable plot, because everything else is going nowhere.

The approach was to take all of the characters, in roughly the same locations, and work from the general premise of arranged marriages, particular gifts or powers and plans not going according to plan. Since a World Build was not to be wasted, I used roughly the same geographical setting and environment, but set a bit in The Past, before the empire of the other books. Opportunities for origins of various agencies from said books peeked over the horizon. As this is a Fantasy, which might be set in a far future of our own world, I didn’t have to worry too much about those problems which writers of fiction in history have to deal with, ensuring the mindset and day to day items belong to the era the book is set in. I could fool around as much as I liked, particularly as the plot in true Pantser style would develop as the narrative progressed.  All this process may be dreadful heresy to some anyway, but since there is an urge to write this and since the likelihood of many folk reading it could be low, so what? Not a jot care I, just so long that at the end of the day the whole thing hangs together and I enjoy what I am doing.

(Pause for Back-Story: I originally started this post back in late October 2023; image and opening paragraph only. Then held off, lest the narrative of the project went like the others; stale and faded. It’s quite embarrassing to announce to a readership all ‘Gee-Whiz. This is Flying’    Only to end up a month later bereft of enthusiasm and material, like this ….

  with not even a decent soliloquy lamenting on the capriciousness of The Muses)

So I carried on with the narrative, visited the post with a passage here, a passage there, and having found there was the urge to rattle off 400 words in one session, something only in recent past enjoyed in Gary’s BlogBattle –  https://bbprompt.com/    thanks mate!

Finally to be cosmological in the allegory it appears, the various dust particles of themes and scenarios are beginning to coalesce. There is an idea of where this all might go, the protagonists are stepping out of the murk and best of all the characters are starting to argue with me, talk about sub-texts, and even the villains normally created simply to take a fall are making guarded suggestions on character development. At the last general meeting with the ever growing but enthusiastic cast it was by consensus admitted that none of us had a clue exactly how it was all going to end up, but we were agreed that (A) There could be another trilogy in the making (B) It was going to be a lot of fun.

Of course this is the first draft; which is going to be a mess and will need to be revised, rationalised and resolved, for all pantsers have to accept that they will encounter several, if not dozens of ‘What Was I Thinking About, If At All. When I Wrote That!’  interludes, and that as much fun as they may have sounded at the time will simply have to go.

And thus to the keyboard I return, with a vague idea of just what will arise out of the next clutch of thoughts and notions. The only certainties will be whereas the going might be tough and there might be tragedies there will be no grimdark and the the endings will be upbeat. This is why I write; there is enough misery, injustice and evil prevailing in the real world, I am not going to add any more with my fiction.

There might be up-dates on the progress, or simple commentaries and observations on The Writing Process, or maybe just some announcement at another venture in the Kindle-verse.

Anyway:

Onwards: