Hi everybody,
Seems that I've made a habit of not posting lately, I apologise.
When I first started this Substack, I wasn’t sure what it was about or what to write. As an emerging writer, I started by posting updates on my progress and later by writing short stories. As the year has trundled along, I've found it more difficult to keep up with the weekly pace of posting short stories, working a job with ten-hour days, family life, and attempting to write a novel.
Looking back on my previous posts, I can see where I’ve improved, and a few things that have caused me to cringe. Which is great because that means I’m improving. The courses I’ve attended, and the grinding away with as little as a hundred words a day, are paying off. Not only that, but I’ve also sold two short stories! An accomplishment that is not lost on me. To go from not writing since my teenage years to having two stories published in less than a year, I don’t mean to toot my own horn but, toot toot.
I kid, I kid. It’s very humbling. But I digress.
As for the future of this Substack? I think I will just be posting Flash Fictions; between 100 to 1,000 words. Any longer than that I will probably spend too much time editing and going back and forth. I’ll be using image prompts and free writing exercises for inspiration. In an ideal world, I will be able to do them weekly, but the reality of it is that they will probably be sporadic.
UPDATE:
As for what I’m working on.
Novel:
I’m currently at 45,000 words of what I would call a very rough draft. A majority of scenes have been written as 1st drafts or at the least roughly outlined. I have started to go back to Chapter 1 and work my way through to the end with the 2nd draft. I have written approximately 7500 words so far.
As this is my first attempt at a novel, I have no idea how the pros do it or what the most efficient process is. But I have found this to be a great experience as I can see the errors I've made, such as head hopping, lack of character and scene descriptions, and even down to incorrect dialogue punctuation.
Short Stories:
I have two that I’m currently working on.
I recently attended the Brisbane Writers Workshop short story course, and the attendees were asked to submit a story for peer review. I got some great feedback for mine (toot toot), I’m just putting this story on the back burner for the moment, and I’ll implement the edits suggested later. I’m unsure what to do with it once it’s been polished. Hopefully, I find an open submission that it fits into.
The second story I'm working on is for the Nightmare Fuel Magazine submission for the print fiction eco-horror anthology FERAL. I’ve done a few passing edits, using the skills I learned at the Brisbane Writers Workshop short story course, and so far, I’m happy with it. The submission deadline is the 1st of November, so I don’t want to rush it.
That’s it for today, if you’ve read this far, thank you. I do appreciate you taking a few minutes out of your day to check out my ramblings.
Andrew
Well done !! Keep up the great work!