I'm always surprised that I end up writing the stories I do, instead of the ones I'm excited about, but it turns out that I still require a long percolation period. I'm just going to have to adjust and accept that I write and shelve until the thing finishes coming together. It's at the point when I understand what the story's about that I can actually write it, with a few notable exceptions.
But I have been writing and learning—on "Gone Hunting" of all stories. First, I've found my cross-country muse again. The one who can leave writing and return to the same story over and over while putting the rest of them on hold. In short, the one who can hold a thought. Creating new content on a planned schedule should get easier if I don't let it take a nap at the moment of truth.
Because of this, I've also decided I will be taking a new approach to my publishing, but it will take a while for everything to be implemented, particularly online. There are several main tracks I've been considering.
1. The Series Bible
I have three worlds that belong to Liana Mir and one that belongs to the Pearl Wise pen name. All four worlds have lengthy, involved worldbuilding and histories, but they are still short on canon. Meaning, I give myself permission to change my headcanon until it's enshrined in a completed story. I have decided that I need to begin marking out canon from completed stories. I started by hunting out details and putting them in a spreadsheet, but I'm also eyeing up my wiki, which would be more functional if I can make it work.
2. The Websites
I want to redo and consolidate my websites quite a bit to make everything easier to keep track of, use, etc. Part of my online presence is designed to help me; some is designed to be more appealing to visitors. I need to find a better way to make this work.
3. Packaging
Professional covers, copywritten synopses, and accurate metadata are something that has eluded my sense of perfection. I need help getting these done the way I want, but that costs money. I've been considering using Kickstarter, but I already have three collections to get cleaned up and not a large audience. Small projects of $1000 or less have their own page and would draw more Kickstarter browsers. Plus, I have no videomaking skills or options at this point. Still pondering how to pull this off, especially for the ones where I'd like illustration done.
4. Scheduling
I would like to put out a new collection of three stories each month, or else a novel or novella. This means putting in some serious work, especially as I now have two or three other smaller jobs, and fandom would have to go on hold again. I'm, frankly, swamped, and we have a potential move coming up to boot.
Between publishing and writing, this sounds like something I really want to do, but again, funding. I want covers and synopses and metadata that work. I want to do these stories justice.
5. The Style Guide
I will be implementing a style guide for my series, to work in tandem with the bible. I've been learning about the difference between style and voice and what exactly they mean for my writing. For example, in the snippet from Storm, I found the Vardin voice, and I also discovered that voice is a huge part of what I want from my fiction. When going through edits from my beta, I will always decide against implementing if it destroys the voice I'm going for.
Style, on the other hand, is about my decisions within the very broad spectrum among acceptable grammar options. For example, two independent clauses joined by a conjunction, such as "and," must have a comma preceding the conjunction unless both sentences are short.
Define short.
I have. Five words or less, provided there is no natural pause for emphasis or reversal, such as when the conjunction is "but." Also, title capitalization, comma usage, dash preferences, etc. are all defined by the style guide.
This is another project I would rather do in my spare time than my front time, but I will begin to try to document what I have done in canonized stories and standardize future ones.
And that's a big enough update. Any plans, hopes, dreams, or ideas for your own projects?
