Let’s talk a bit about my current writing process. I have mentioned before that the project Black Fields came to (temporarily) replace For Her Moon which hurts me a lot, but it was a necessary change. I would never recommend to work on something else if you have not finished one thing first, because you’re never going to finish anything if you pile up your duties. However, things change when you had been stuck for a long time and the process stops completely. If you see a dead end and you don’t see a way to return to the road you were looking for, take a different street. Again, it is not recommended but it is not bad, either. You already know there was a dead end there, and by the time you decide to continue thorough the first journey you will know to avoid a certain path.

My brain

When I reached that dead end I found myself in a dark alley, figuratively speaking; I did not know what to do, and when your projects don’t go the way you want it’s easy to feel completely useless. Not everyone is like this, I know, and I am glad. Unfortunately for me, I can’t help but feel that way. A few years thinking about this cool fantasy project, and just when I thought I had it all figured out, I realized there were many things missing. I cannot explain exactly what happened, I just feel that the characters and certain events are leading to nothing. I could not feel any emotion on my own creation. And the simple and yet important magic system I wanted to add did not feel organic; it was forced at a point I should not tell until I get back to that first project.

Black Fields

The project Black Fields is too literal. You’ll know why next year. For now, I’m only telling that that dark alley transformed itself into this story. A story where there’s no light. Only at a certain hour where a dim light shows up. Revered as a deity, people uses it to see their surroundings.

I kinda feel sorry for them because there’s not much of a difference when it illuminates. Even if that small community the story focuses its first chapter on, the tale is going to head into a different direction as it goes forward. They are in a situation where the only thing they have to worry about is to remain alive as long as possible. Uncertainty. Something tells me as I write that there’s no such thing as hopes and dreams, only the expectancy for death. A feeling a person gets when there’s nothing to lose or to fight for.

I’ll share more on the next report.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Note taking

I’ve been taking notes. One of the things that helped during a writing process is to DO IT non-stop. I used to believe that we need to take care of each paragraph we have written before heading to the next. That was a huge mistake; rookie mistake. Many writers say that we need to go forward and edit everything once you’re finished. That is why I write notes, too; some ideas come up after two or three chapters, and these new ideas may or may not be in conflict with some of the lines on the previous chapters.

Yes, indeed, if you think about it, this process becomes more difficult because that’s going to force you to read YOUR whole story many times, and every time you will need to make corrections; add or remove full paragraphs until you feel happy with the project. And once you feel very happy with it, guess what? CONGRATULATIONS!!! You have finished… the first step. Now it is the turn of the beta readers and editors.

I am getting too far ahead, though, and this is not the point of this entry, right? Although I think this is a good way to start. Writing some reports, telling a bit about its process and keep doing everything.

Progress

The progress has been very significant, but not much considering I have started on July. By the moment I have finished writing this first official entry my word count is a bit above 21,000. I cannot tell you enough how excited I feel to show you the final product.

I am not sure how would people receive a story like Black Fields but my curiosity is really high! I really hope you like the book I am writing. If you don’t, feel free to write a honest review about it. I am always open to criticism.

Music to write

I usually write in silence, sometimes I don’t. The music I listen to while writing is anything instrumental; I feel any lyrics could be very distracting when you need to concentrate. When it comes to videogame soundtracks you’ll find a lot of treasures there for any mood. I wish people would take the original soundtracks more seriously, they don’t  know what they’re missing.

The music of a visual novel called VA-11 Hall-A made me fall in love. The visual novel itself is one of the best thing I have ever “played” (if you could call it that), and with the soundtrack as a complement to the story is just phenomenal. The name of the song I shared represents exactly the opposite of Black Fields, but one cannot deny the possibility of hope, even in the darkest situation you might face.

And this is the conclusion of my first report. I am still afraid for the final work. This is going to be a self-published novel, I don’t have any plans for querying; this is my debut (in English) novel, and I think keeping myself with the “indie” status while making  myself a name, if that ever happens, will be better than just trying to make it into a traditional publisher house.

Applying for the “big league” is something I’d love to do in the future. For now, let’s just do baby steps. I don’t want to rush things out before releasing my ideas first.

By the way, the only plan I have for sure after I’ve finished my novel is to take a three-month break before starting the next. I will be able to return with the normal scheduling here.

Nothing more to report here, so I wish you have a great week. Enjoy your time as much as possible. I know this “new world” is getting crazier everyday. I would have said that we’d learn from our mistakes to prevent a pandemic or any other kind of disaster… but we all know how humans work.

Peace, I’m out of here to continue the journey through the Black Fields.

Se you all!