Sunday Skystar... · 8:30pm Oct 13th, 2019
... Because the snuggly micro-fiction is now going directly into Proximity, and I needed an alternative alliterative title. Plus, it kinda makes sense considering my update.
So Deep Six is still moving in the right direction. I dug myself out of my burrow just in time for a busy weekend at the Cheltenham Lit Festival, which was a whole lot of fun and a nice way to round off 9 days of literary goodness in which I've been seriously spoilt. I haven't found too much time around the events to write, but I intend to pick that up again this week. It's going well, for the most part. The story has been plotted out and, more importantly given the genre, moments of unease and general spookiness have been designed. I personally think it's shaping up quite well, with the exception of the length. Even that isn't too much of a problem really; the monthly class is targeting the stories to be between 3-5k words, but if mine ends up over that limit then I'll have still written in a genre I've never written in before, and honestly that's all that matters.
And it probably will run over that. I'm expecting it to easily breach 10k words, maybe even reaching the 20k mark. For me, that will ensure the story ticks another big box of mine, namely completing a story of modest length. With both of those targets met, I'll have finally completed the goal I set myself a long time ago when I first arrived on the site. I enjoy my romance, and I doubt I'll ever veer far from the genre, but it's nice to be able to achieve the odd target in forcing yourself out of your comfort zone. I'm in no way underestimating what an achievement that will be for me.
Poor Skystar, though. I'm putting her through her paces, that's for sure.
There has been one sacrifice from all of this, however. Given the timescales of the contest, I expect I'll be putting aside the story I've been planning for the Imposing Sovereigns II contest. Like Deep Six, the entry would have taken me out of my comfort zone and been of modest length, but I have realised I don't have the capacity to juggle both, and so one was naturally going to be dropped rather than both suffer as a result of misguided determination. I feel a little better for making the call, and I might still consider writing it a little further down the line. It's just... hippogriffs, right? Right.
I am going to leave one decision open to you all, however, because it's nice to do something for the people who have been kind enough to follow, even if that something is just letting you decide on a publishing schedule. How would you prefer to receive your Deep Six? It's likely to be around five chapters worth of material, so I can either:
- Publish the story with all chapters complete
- Publish the story in consecutive days (updates chapters daily)
- Publish the story with a longer schedule (updates routinely when chapters are complete)
I mean, it's not the greatest gift ever, but I figure you're following me because you enjoy my work, so why not choose the manner in which you receive future work from me? Let me know below, if you're so inclined. I'll run with the majority. 
I think that's about it? Thanks to those of you who have read and commented on Proximity so far. There's one chapter left of that, which will be arriving in a week, so if you (or anyone you think might enjoy it) haven't caught up then this is the week to do it!
How have your writing projects been faring? Anything exciting on the horizon? I'd love to hear about them, and anything else you'd care to share.
I like the consecutive days method. Gives me time to digest a story in smaller bites and lets me look forward to the next bit without instant gratification.
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God I love these gigantic birds
I adore stories that update in that second method—feels just like a TV show or something. I don't have the patience do something like that personally but I love seeing other people do it haha
The third method is fine as well, of course, as is the first.
I'm very excited to be publishing a fic that's going to be relatively long-form soon, and I'm also really excited to start researching and outlining for my own entry into the imposing sovereigns contest.