What I'm Working On: Start of 2020 edition
If there is one thing that I don't have a problem with, it's ideas about what to write about, at least from a fiction perspective.
I always had writing ideas, some good, some rubbish, that I'd play with in my head, work out, prewrite a couple years before committing them to an electronic file or paper. That and a lot of other hangups led me to a lot of procrastination.
At the start of this blog, I let readers know some of the things I've been working on. I think that it would be helpful to keep anyone reading this blog up to date about those projects, but it also helps me organize what's going on with me, as well.
These projects cover several different genres and subjects. I have to say that I've always considered myself more of a genre writer than literary (and if anyone can let me know what makes a novel "literary," I'd appreciate a definition because I have no idea what it is). Actually, I always worried about telling a good story more than playing around with words or whatever.
My Current Projects
Project A: This is a book about a young man who is a football player and the son of a famous college football coach who is also obsessed with soccer. I first got the idea to write about what I thought the first American Lionel Messi might be like and it turned into one of the richest characters I’ve ever written about. STATUS: Revised, proofread, and now ready to be shopped around.
Project B: This is a short novel about a young teen who shoots two of his classmates during a psychotic break. After five years imprisonment, he is looking to rebuild his life with the help of his brother, but former high school classmates start turning up dead around him… A former NaNoWriMo project, this is one of the shortest books I've written, around 50,000 words. I want to make this one nice and tight, not much longer than it is now, which I think will be a good plan for a thriller. STATUS: In the process of a major revision/"second rough draft."
Project C: For someone who never messed around with poetry, the idea of me putting together a poetry collection is a real trip. The poetry enthusiasts of Writers On The Avenue in Muscatine were so much into poetry that I decided, starting around 2010 or so, to give it a whirl as well. This has led me into some interesting areas, and has been a way for me to connect to where I grew up. A big theme in this collection is the Mississippi River, how I've experienced it, and what it means to me. I first got the idea of this project well before I knew I was going to eventually leave the Mississippi River area, but I think it's going to have more significance for me as I move on to other places. I don't know if I'll ever return to a town on the Mississippi, but I'd love to move near a big river or lake again some time. (People leaving their homes for various reasons appears to be a reoccurring theme in a lot of my work). I had originally decided to try to put this out as a whole project, but some recent advice from a poet I've met has convinced me to try and get some of these out individually. So I'm going to start looking into those markets, with the intention of getting those poems published and thus generating interest in the larger collection. STATUS: A full collection is only one-half to two-thirds finished.
Project F: This is the fantasy project I was inspired to write based on my Game of Thrones obsession. The basic theme that I've been playing around with is this: So, I started thinking of a scenario, of a new fantasy world, where civilizations representing the concepts of magic, chivalry, and science and progress would clash and face each other. The more that I’ve watched Game of Thrones and what they’ve done right and wrong, the more this idea of writing fantasy intrigues me, and it's the genre that really has my undivided attention at the moment. I've started to look over fantasy map building sites and think about what these civilizations would be like. STATUS: Early planning stages.
Project D: This is the second fanfiction project I took on inspired by the debacle over the last season of Game of Thrones. I'm basically rewriting the entire eighth season to how I think it should have gone. I'm well over 100,000 words on the project and close to halfway through what I think the story will be as of this writing. Obviously I have no interest in monetizing this whatsoever. One of these days I'll have to think more about why this story snagged my attention. Maybe it's been keeping me sane with all of the changes I've been facing this past year. If you want to read what I've done so far, you can read this project here on Archive Of Our Own (AO3). My profile name on AO3 is librarysquatter. STATUS: Writing in progress.
Here's two other projects that I am calling inactive due to my attention on the previous projects and my blog, but I'm still listing them.
Project R: A story of a fictional indie rock band and its history from the early 1980's to the early/mid-1990's, my love letter, so to speak, of the indie rock that caught my ear so many years ago. This will likely turn out to be a trilogy.
Project W: A thriller, just the germ of an idea. But, it's pretty intense, pretty heavy material. This might wind up simmering for a while.
I set a lot of lofty goals for myself last year, but those crashed and burned for the most part. As I look back on the goals I set last summer, I completed one out of my six goals. I'm writing, but it's tough getting things done otherwise. I'll be moving to a new community soon and wrapping up my affairs in the old one, so there's no telling what I will be able to What I think I need to do is make my goals longer term and more realistic for both what I want to accomplish, what I can get accomplished in the time I have, and frankly, what my track record is in getting things accomplished with my writing up to this point.
So, my goals:
Project A: Begin querying agents and publishers: Sometime during 2020, hopefully beginning in spring/summer/fall 2020.
Project B: Finish major redrafting of the rough draft (more of a second rough draft rather than a more focused revision): ?
Project C: None at this time.
Project F: None at this time, but I would like planning for this to continue when I have the chance.
Project D: Finish by summer 2020.
Project R: None at this time
Project W: None at this time
Also, remember that I already have a book out if you want to read my fiction.
It's called The Holy Fool: A Journalist's Revolt. It's a journalism thriller years in the making, inspired by my past career as a journalist (I never did anything like what happens in the book, however, the world of journalism just inspired me), and I'm so happy that I've finally gotten it published. Get to the My Work page on this blog for all of the links if you want to find out more about it and (possibly?) buy it. But, there's other ways you can support it, too.
Anyway, that's what I'm working on. If you've got any questions, feel free to ask.