Back in the Saddle? Hopefully

For some time now I've been struggling with writing. It's not been a writer's block type thing. It's been more a life kind of thing. I go through peaks and troughs in general and recent times have seen a definite trough. I've not been wanting to do many of the typical things I enjoy normally. But I have hope I'm emerging from my low point.

For one thing I've found and compulsively binge watched a couple of TV shows (as previously mentioned). I've also found myself getting hooked on reading novels again, completing Emily St. John Mandell's wonderful Station Eleven in just a couple of days. So maybe writing will go the same way.

I hope so as we are heading towards one of the busiest times for my wife. Musicians always work more in the run up to Christmas. Add that to the fact she has a few overnight trips for her day job too and it means I will have ample spare time to fill. Writing would be the perfect way to do this. So I'd better figure it out.

Well tonight might have been the right first step. I had a long conversation about the various story ideas I have sketched out in the various notebooks I keep for such a purpose. (See picture below for evidence of how insane I am with this.)


At the end of the conversation my wife told me which of the stories she would want to read and pretty much ordered me to start writing it.

The book in question is called Tithebound. It's a story of an oppressive society controlled by the church (a made up one not connected to any ones on our Earth) and the various guilds in an almost feudal way. The world is roughly late Victorian / early Edwardian in technology and there will be trains, airships and various machines. The air of the great city will be filled with coal smog. So not your normal fantasy world you might say.

It would be another first in a series if I get it going and find it a home although at the moment I have no idea how many more stories might take place in this world as each one will be self contained.

I started writing this last year as a ya fantasy and it floundered after 13K words or so. Having re-read it today I think this was it's problem. The lead character might be 13 years old but the story and its world is anything but young adult.

I've gone through what I'd written and rescued what I could, large part of chapters 1 and 2 and then restarted it from chapter 3. After one night of work it stands at 8,740 words in length with maybe a third of those entirely new. Not a bad night's work. Now to see if I can keep the momentum going tomorrow when my wife is out at music practice.

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