Becoming the writer I want to be

Haiku writing is going well, I try to get a few a week done. As for the novel I am still on break from that until next week.

 

This only tangentially relates to the purpose of the thread but I am very pleased with my reading efforts this year. At the start of the year I set myself the goal of reading 50 books, which would be an increase from my 2019 total of 48. I am happy to say I succeeded with this. In 2019 I read 27 books and 21 comics, in 2020 I read 44 books and 12 comics, a huge increase from the previous year with many more actual book and way less comics. I think moving forward however I will be aiming to lower this number to around 30 a year, which is still a lot but is much more feasible now I have less free time. I am very eager to get back to writing book 2 and hope to get that done in 2021. Book 3 will likely be started in 2021 but probably wont be finished until the year after that. I really should thank @Anakin66 for starting the thread to begin with as well as everyone else who has commented and offered support over the course of the year.

When I look back and think objectively, this year was actually a much better year than either of the two before it, pandemic be dammed. I got two short stories written at the start of the year, both of which I think are pretty good and only require some tweaks. Of course I also finished my first proper novel and got around a third into writing the second novel. Picking up haiku writing was also something I am glad I did. In terms of NoFap itself I struggled a lot this year but I seem to be finally getting back on track. There are a lot of areas where I need to improve, particularly in regards to relationships and friendships, but I genuinely got a lot more out of 2020 than I expected. I suppose it sucked for a lot of people, but it didn't for me. I wish everyone a very happy and productive new year.

 

Well, I'm now up to 1502 words in my new chapter and I forgot about the ending so if you add that, which is another 622 words, my chapter is up to 2124 words! I'm aiming to get up to 2500 words by the weekend because I know that it's about to reach the point where I need to delete the old material I've saved to help me get started and write a better chapter from scratch so that'll probably happen next week.

So I compiled some data yesterday that I wanted to share with you guys. It's been much more productive for me on the writing scene than in years past. Despite only joining this thread in the fall, you guys have seen my progress first hand and how I've worked hard to better myself, and that I've always been writing in some form and fashion. Now I'm proud to present you with my data for writing in 2020:

Prose: 39,009 words

• Articles (2): 5,314 words
• Novel (Prologue): 4,072 words (but my first discarded draft was up to 15,000 words)
• Short Stories (11): 29,653 words

Poetry: 80 poems

• Haikus: 56
• Other Poems: 24

So there you guys go! I've had a fairly productive year in terms of writing. I've got a few short stories I'm going to write in 2021 based on the lessons I learned from in 2020 and hopefully get those published. These other short stories are going to be kept as examples of how I improved and might be revised and published someday down the line. I've also got 2 poems I'm revising at the moment and then a long-awaited poem I've been dying to write since October in mind. I'll also get back into writing new haikus and starting a new bundle, but other than a few edits further down the line if needed, I won't touch the first bundle until I decide to gather them up for publication, but I won't bore you all with that. I've got a new article I'm working on as well.

It's hard to believe that I've almost written a novella in prose alone. It's given me great motivation to write more next year and to maybe finally develop a solid tune to write stories, work on my novel, write more poems, and even get a few essays and other pieces on the side ready to go. I've not forgotten about sending you some of my work and messaging you @AtomicTango so I'll get onto that this afternoon and getting that taken care of.

 

Its been great to see your progress since you joined the thread. I did not realise you had written so much, great job! I look forward to you sending me your writing.

As for myself, I think I've officially reached a point where I simply dont have the time to write everything that I want to write, and its giving me that nervous energy I get when I really want to do something but know its not practical. In terms of my sci-fi series, I want to finish the trilogy first, but then I also have a fourth novel planned that delves much deeper into things only hinted at in the main trilogy, and that finally resolves the arc of one of the main characters. Now, heres the bombshell; the trilogy was originally only intended as a precursor to the "real" story which takes place much later, but that aspect of it got side-lined as I got invested in the current narrative. With that in mind I have one more thing I want to do to lead into it, a heavily Star Trek inspired short story anthology with each story being linked by an overarching narrative of them all being the adventures of a crew taking part in a deep space exploration mission maybe 50-100 years after the end of the trilogy. Basically a "The Next Generation" kinda deal that establishes a new status quo and can potentially lead into even more books in future. Theres so much to explore with this world because I have deliberately set it up so its the kind of sci fi world where almost any kind of story you can think of can happen, its not limited in that regard.



I also want to go back to writing flash fiction, as well as rewrite a novella I wrote in 2019. I want to keep up with writing haiku too. Finally, I want to, at some point, go completely balls to the wall and start properly writing something I have had in mind for many years; a transgressive/surrealist novel that incorporates real events taken from my own life and mixes them in with nightmarish fictionalised elements. All of my work tends to have disturbing elements but I want this book to be outright frightening, maybe even controversial in its commitment to freaking the reader out and exploring extremely dark aspects of the human psyche. It will be very experimental and the kind of thing a lot of people wont like, and in fact might hate. I had the idea for this long before I read this book but American Psycho is the book that made me really want to do it. American Psycho is funny, bleak, dramatic, boring, exciting, and absolutely vile all at once, and ideally so would my book. This would really be my attempt to push the boat out and write something that really makes the reader think "what the absolute hell was this guy on when he wrote this" because those kinds of books are the ones I find the most engaging, even if they are often disgusting. If you finish reading The Room by Hubert Selby Junior, you will see what I mean, because thats another one that fits that mould.

 

Y'all have been busy!

I recently finished novel draft to the point I needed beta readers. It took me four years. If I could delete the days I didn't write, it only took a few months lol.

My wife and sister were kind. My beta exchange partner was positive for a while, but 1/3 of the way through he told me to burn it down. He offered to teach me how to write and suggest I start over later.

The book came together the way I hoped it would. My taste in literature is poor and I don't want to improve it.

I'm a dude who likes reading Stephanie Meyers novels to his wife and tried to write commercial fiction with YA styling. This was destinated to end self published on Amazon with one download two and two perfect reviews.

But I want to see it to the bloody end. My goal is to finish revisions. If my wife and I like it, I'm going to query in the next 6 weeks.

I've got lots of resolutions going, but I'd like a to post an update here about this project from time to time if that's ok.

 

What is a blanket,
that provides not warmth but cold?
Figured it out yet?

Breath from beast unseen.
Sky and earth and in-between
shaded all the same.

Small eyes, bushy tail.
Watch with childlike wonderment
at its frolicking.

 

FOG!

 

It was supposed to be snow, but fog works just as well!

 

I love it

 

Thank you!

 

Got 4 chapters planned out today, and 848 words done. A good start.

 

And I'm sorry about not sending it to you again. I usually avoid my computer during the weekends to give myself some rest and a chance to unwind with reading and just relax for a few days. Well, I wrote most of the short stories before I joined the thread, but the thread probably gave me more motivation that lead to more poetry being crafted. I hope to get back into more haiku writing soon as well.

I've got an experimental novel I also want to write at some point: taking all of the Jung personalities and write a second-person piece where they're all characterized as famous figures and can morph from one person to the next. It sounds something surrealist and out of a crazy house, but I've had this idea for years and I'd love to do it, but not until I get this first novel complete and gain a better understanding of writing fiction, especially psychological and experimental fiction. I've been meaning to ask, but would you help me with the psychological aspects of my book, especially with the main character and the early chapters? I feel that you'd be able to get me on track (even if it means several rewrites) and help keep me focused on the overall theme and narrative of the story I'm trying to tell. Would you be interested in that?

Thank you so much for having us! I love this thread a lot and I'm eager to continue recording my progress this year. I've felt more motivated with you guys and when I get back into writing after my holiday break ends, I'll be sure to seek out you guys to help me when I feel uncertain. I've got some projects I didn't get to last year which are currently on my radar. I hope your wish for the kid goes well, haha.

 

I'm willing to help when I can but I cant promise I'll be able to respond in a consistently quick manner. I am using the site most days but most of the time I dont have the time to do more than read messages, as opposed to formulate proper replies. I will do my best though.

 

853 words today. I feel like I could write more, as I write this update I still have allocated time, but I just finished a scene so it makes sense to stop for the day. I am trying to adopt a strategy where, on days where I go on morning walks, I aim to get 500-1000 words done. On days where I dont, I want to do more, around 1000-1500. I also dont want to be writing right up to lunchtime as I often tend to, because that causes a domino effect of pushing everything else I have planned backwards, forcing me to abandon those plans or fight to squeeze them in. At the end of the day I need to remember that while writing is by far the best thing I do with my time, its stupid to let it completely control my schedule to the extent it ruins everything else.

 

340 words into my new article today. Not a bad start despite most of the work being just some notes and fragments not arranged in order yet.

 

Wrote some poetry and possibly some lyrics today. Felt good hadn’t really written in quite a while.

 

1515 words today.

 

It's been a couple months since my beta exchange partner ripped my book and I haven't had a desire to work on it since. I've put off starting again the last couple of days but I want to get 2 hours in today.

 

1119 words today, chapter will be done tomorrow.