Sunday, 2 March 2014

The stories so far…

Dear all, a very quick blog post today. I want to share with you where I am with some of the stories I am working on. Whether or not you have been following me here, or perhaps on my other sites (links on the right hand side if you want to) I haven’t been saying much about this. I have been jabbering on a plenty about all sorts of subjects, most of which I daren’t read back in case I am forced to commit ritual suicide for crimes to blogging but in terms of my actual stories I have been quiet.
            This is mainly because I am scared to death that I will have to carry out my threats to release my ideas to the world if I admit I to them! The hell with it though, if they come to nothing then it won’t be because I haven’t tried, it will be because upon reading I classify them as unsuitable for human consumption.

So, where am I then?

I am currently working on two short stories and one collection of four very short stories. I think the first two will be released individually, their word count possibly being in the region of twenty five thousand words each, and the four other stories released as one collection with each being probably in the range of around five thousand words each. They are not even at completed first draft stage yet so things may change.
One concerns the story of a teenage relationship, the first girlfriend of our protagonist Robert (well I am calling every character Robert for now as I haven’t committed to names so they will remain me for the time being!) but experiencing a moment of conflict with a neighbor at the same time and not knowing if you can carry on in the same manner as before now something new has come to light. Does he ignore what he knows or now he has someone special has he the confidence to go his own way?
The second concerns our man Robert again, this time someone who in his late twenties has to confront his continuing denials about his future in light of his disenchantment with the way he lives and is depicted through a boxing match.
The last ebook as it currently stands, will consist of the following four tales: a man, Robert ;) who spends his life looking for something he cannot find; another Robert who takes a drastic step in learning how to date a woman; a Robert who wonders if a simple change in the way he thinks about himself can alter the course of his life; and lastly a Robert who hosts his monthly dinner party for friends but his pals aren’t what we at first think.
I hope, I really, really hope…that I can get first drafts for all of them complete by the end of March and then get them online during April. Not much by way of female lead characters there…I will have to do something about that and I do have what I hope are strong female characters in mind for other stories. On that note, I have around thirty other short stories that I would like to tell you about but I’m going to do it in stages. They are no where near even preparatory stage yet, they are no more than outlines I am happy with, once I begin work on them who knows the direction they will go in so I’ll leave them for now and repeat this type of blog post when the time is right.

I will finish this brief post by saying that I also think - and please emphasise that word in your head – I know what my first novel will be. Please understand that I very nearly threw up just writing that down, never mind what I may do when I press the publish button on the top of my Blogger home page…so I’m not going to tell you about it or even give a vague plot outline, there is so much work to do that I am terrified to even think about it. However, I am hugely excited at the same time. It is going to be a project like nothing I have ever attempted before and if I can be too honest for my own good, I have no confidence that I am capable of undertaking it, but I will try and if I can hazard a guess that allows me a very wide range of error and the opportunity for numerous delays I imagine it to be at least two years before I get to the first draft stage especially as I fully intend on continuing with short stories and haven’t even begun the research required... 

Okay, I will actually finish the post with this; I tweeted a link that a friend shared with me recently, here it is again: http://www.mobiledia.com/news/188186.html. It’s a nice 2 minute clip summarizing what I have tried to say in thousands of words in blogs and posts but failed to capture well. Have a quick watch if you can. The reason I don’t mind sharing with you where I am with my stories, and why I will continue to be open about my feelings about writing and my life in general is that I am not scared at all anymore about admitting I am trying to write and all that goes with it. The reason is that I know what I will produce over the next few years won’t be anywhere near as good as I want it to be, they won’t convey the emotions and messages I want them to convey and I am perfectly alright with that. I just want to produce work and lots of it. I just want to get better and I know it will be a long process, at times embarrassing and at times depressing possibly humiliating and all the rest of it, but I am determined to continue because I really enjoy it and can’t think of a better way to spend my life. So, these stories I hope will be good, but I don’t expect them to be great because I know how high I have set the bar for myself. So if you do follow me on this blog or any of my other sites then stick with me, I’m in it for the long term and if you see me put out stuff that isn’t brilliant then it’s not because I am deluded and think it’s the best thing since Great Expectations…and if that pun is anything to go by you’ll understand I haven’t convinced myself I am the next Joyce either. It is just to get better you have to finish something and then try harder on the next thing…


RGR
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