Plotting, Planning, and Writing Again!
An idea has formed.
It formed so much that yesterday I opened Scrivener and started plotting and planning and daydreaming. Furthermore, it seemed so writeable that today I trawled premade bookcovers until I found something perfect and bought it without a thought.
I'm backwards like that.
I find writing a book so much easier once I have a suitable cover for it. I guess it's an incentive in a way. "I spent money on this already so I'd better write, finish, and publish it."
The title is not set in stone, neither are the fonts used. But I love that image and it suits the story in my head perfectly; it was like it was made specifically for my story. That's fate, right there.
😁😁😁
So, what's the story?
In past posts I've spoken of a story that's been in my head since I was a child and how that particular story evolved over the decades to become the Forgotten Prophecy series that I'm working on. How the first iteration of the story was so farfetched and fanciful that I'd prefer just keep it for myself.
That's changed.
I want to share it. And I've worked out a way to do that so it's not as fanciful and one-dimensional and Mary-Sue as it once was.
AND!
Was it last year or the year before? I think it was the year before. In 2019 I convinced the @freewritehouse to host another NaNoWriMo style thing, whilst still excited from my success during 2018's actual NaNoWriMo, and I started writing this weird-arse story about two guys named Henry and Sebastian.
As with everything, I keep every word that I write. Despite the fact that I hated that story so much. Henry was a whiny turdface and I couldn't stand writing him. So. I stopped.
Now... I'm bringing them back! Might have to force Henry to have a slight personality change so I can deal with him, but Sebastian is still going to be his happy-go-lucky self. Always liked Sebby, it was just Henry ruining everything.
Yes. I'm babbling...
So the story itself?
Alexandria is a young woman neglected from birth, abused by those who are meant to love her, and blessed by a powerful being from another realm. Desperate to find refuge in the other realm, she performs ritual after ritual in an attempt to free herself only to unintentionally fulfill the powerful being's secret desire -- to meld the two realms into one that he can rule over.
Chaos ensues. In the short span of ten years the world becomes overgrown, apocalyptic, and nothing is as it once was.
Henry and Sebastian are friends pulled into the madness, their every abhorrent action a method of ensuring their daily survival, and seek their own escape from this new life they reprehend and did not wish for. Forging terms for an escape ends in deceit, separating the men from one another and forcing them to find their own paths; Sebastian a thrall under orders to "rebalance" power and Henry an ally to bush creatures once believed myth.
Can Sebastian bring balance to the chaos or will he bring further ruin to the world? Is it possible for Alexandria and her Demon to be overthrown? Will Henry ever find his friend again?*
*Not an actual blurb, but gives the gist.
I guess we shall soon find out!
As always, I'm planning on blockchain-publishing this story as I go to read possible criticism and opinions, then I will edit and add to it privately before publishing on Amazon and elsewhere. 😁
I always bitch about Amazon and their Amazon Exclusive thing, but I'll inevitably do it again for a hopeful-but-unlikely handful of Kindle Unlimited readers. Who knows.
Anyway!
In the immortal words of Big Kev, may he rest in peace, "I'M EXCITED!"
It's time to start writing again. 😊
Look out for the first chapter in the near future!
You've got my ear. Looking forward to seeing how this turns out.
Cheers 😃 I'm so excited about this project, and I haven't been excited about writing in a long time. It's wonderful! I hope you enjoy it as it comes to fruition.
Quite honestly, your mention of Scrivener in the first line captured my attention. I've been using Scrivener for several years now (although not as often as I should) and that clued me in that you likely take your writing very seriously.
Your statement, "As with everything, I keep every word that I write," hits home with me. Every Scrivener project of mine has a lengthy folder entitled "Clipped out".
Ahhh, Scrivener is fantastic! I've been waiting and waiting for Scrivener 3 to be released for Windows... and only discovered yesterday that it was finally released in March. Perfect timing. I like to do a lot of my writing at night and the bright glare of white is a pain sometimes. So grateful that they've included a dark mode in this latest version. 🙂
As for keeping every word I write... I just find it important to keep every little snippet of writing, no matter how tacky or terrible it might seem. There's every possibility it could be of use later on and part of me just doesn't like deleting things/throwing things away. I've published two books now and I have every version of them from the very first rough draft to each removed edit. It's messy. I read them sometimes and cringe, but they're my words and they should be kept.
If Kindle didn't work out too well for the last novel, why not publish this one on all major platforms? Is there a particular reason why you don't do that?
Buying the book cover before writing the book reminds me of being a kid and buying the video game to ensure that I will buy the console later 😅
Mostly it's on the off-chance that Kindle Unlimited readers will read it.
Two people half-read Half Past the Moonfall on Kindle Unlimited.
Three people fully read Vengeance and another two half-read it.
And about 40 people "bought" Vengeance while it was on a Free For A Week sale, that I can only do whilst exclusive.
It's mostly proven that most people will not read a book that they pick up for free; they just like the idea of getting something for free. But I'm grateful they have it in their libraries and just maybe might read it one day.
That is the main reason I'll probably publish on Amazon and go exclusive for the 3 month lock-in period before publishing elsewhere. 😅
I had the cover for Vengeance three years before publishing it! XD It was too perfect to resist. Took me a while, mostly because I was a sook and kept crying while writing it, but got there in the end and still love the cover I chose. 😊