I scoured my mind for something interesting or profound to write, and came up with nothing. Maybe it’s the lack of sleep. But it occurred to me that I’ve been trying to get back into this writing lark over the last two or three weeks, so getting my thoughts and reflections down might be a good way to shake something loose.
I promise to keep this on topic (writing) so things don’t get completely inane!
Let’s start with what I’ve been up to, and what comes next.
Well, I’ve been here, mostly. And that’s been just lovely. After taking a break, I told myself to somewhat ignore the advice about being consistent, because sometimes there is nothing to say, and life happens. But I’ve been trying. I would say it feels like I’ve fallen out of touch with the Substack community a little due to my inactivity, but there’s enough of a connection left that I don’t feel totally out of it.
Overall though, it feels much like it did before. I’m pleased to see certain parts of the community still doing their thing, and seeing some growth. I’ve been able to reconnect with that, which feels good.
My feed is full of commentary about the difficulty in the growth of the fiction section on Substack. I don’t know enough about algorithms and so on to comment. My own experience is that growth is slow but steady, but I don’t have goals in terms of subscribers; I’m already getting more eyes on my work than I was before I joined.
I haven’t moved to a paid model yet with The Pantheon Chronicles, and I have no immediate plans to. I still have trouble getting past the notion that you can buy my book from Jeff Bezos for three or four dollars/pounds, so why would you subscribe to this, beyond generosity, or somehow enjoying my extra-curricular ramblings. I read an article about how the cost of a book is its production value, and not the content value. I like that take (of course), but there’s a hard-nosed capitalist side of the argument that doesn’t see the distinction.
I’ve also seen some commentary on serialisation. Pros, cons, how you can do something a bit different with it. And the community is getting smart; I’ve seen collaborative stacks opening up, which feels like a magazine of many authors. I’ll be keeping a sharp eye on how that goes.
And what else have I been up to? Well, getting back into writing, which feels great. I’m moving along with the first draft of the sequel to A Piece Of A God, and I also have a prequel novella in the works. The initial creation really is the tip of the iceberg before the many edits and revisions. Second time around, I’m savouring the experience of creating something from nothing.
Interestingly, the serialisation conversation I mentioned above highlighted that many people really are writing and releasing one chapter a week. Which I think is phenomenal in terms of production. Me, I can’t work that quickly, and I also want my readers to know the book is finished, revised and edited before I start to release chapters. That’s just my personal take on things, but good luck to those who do it another way.
I’ve also been watching Euro 2004, but don’t tell the word count police.