Where Are We? - June 2024

Writing

This month, we sorted the map for the second novel and it looks pretty damn good. Looking forward to revealing it! I’ve also sorted an issue I had with one of the story parts that wasn’t quite grabbing me so this month was spent laying the groundwork of how it should flow and next month we’ll spend more time re-writing it and ensuring it marries up with the rest of the novel without issues. Still on track for getting it to beta readers by November.

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Life

This month’s book was The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. After getting over the 1800s writing style, the story told and the message of human nature made it one of my favourite reads of the year. A glutton for further punishment, I finally picked up the Dark Souls trilogy and after completing the first, I’ll soon be onto the second. Difficulty aside, the sense of mystery and danger forces caution and punishes hesitation and it’s easy to see why these games have such loyal fans.

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Question of the Month

Where do you get your characters and story ideas from?

What I like, mostly. A good number of my own traits are weaved into most of the main characters but the most fun comes from writing sides of yourself that can’t see the light of day. You’ll have more passion for telling a story you enjoy yourself and are therefore more inclined to finish it. Naturally, you need to add a few challenges in there and one of my personal rules is to rarely make things ‘free’. If a character gets a boon, what did it cost? If they make a choice, what’s the consequence? If they make a mistake, how are they punished?