The long haul towards publication.

Writers need stamina.

Sometimes the long haul seems just that little bit too long. At times like these I ask myself pretty searching questions. I wonder whether I will ever finish either of my books. I listen to lots of other writers struggling with the same problems. This gives me hope.

If writing was that easy then we would all be Stephen King or George RR Martin. Maybe some of us will get that far. Who knows? but it won't be easy.

I can go weeks on end without writing a word. Other times I bursting with creativity. It is a roller-coaster for me. The trouble is, I have a few other things going on in my life. Don't we all? Writing is important to me but I need to earn a wage and survive. That is reality.

So in those long evenings of doubt and self examination I have to hang on to the dreams. I will publish one day. Soon I hope. I know that many of my friends have made it into 'print' and many others are, like me, on that journey. I won't give up, and neither should anyone else.

Keep writing, it will be worth it.

Use words to help others

Once again I making progress with my science fiction.

My life is pretty complicated. I assume the same is true for most people. I would have plenty of time for creative writing if I didn't have to do 'everything else.' Good quality time at the keyboard is something I treasure.

One day it will be worth it.

But I do not just want to produce bog standard works of fiction. I don't want to be a run of the mill indie. I want to do my best. I feel I need too. Storytelling is a responsibility. A good story changes the way the reader thinks about themselves and their world. Stories are powerful tools for good.

I do not preach. I never will. I do want to make things better for others. If I can raise awareness or resources for good causes through the use of my work I will try and do so. I am thinking about the practicality of how this can be done.

But writing in itself is such a good thing that I would encourage everyone to get 'out there' and do some. Get published. Get read. Do some good with your imagination. If you win enough little victories then you win the war. Make someone elses life better with your words. It will be worth it.

I said I wouldn't preach but this is one sermon I won't give up on. I am fickle that way. I am a writer!

Role-play without dice.

In the old days before the advent of 'Dungeons and Dragons' and all those other wonderful game systems people still role-played. It was called story telling and this craft is as old as the hills.

I want to develop a game system which uses good old fashioned storytelling at its core. No dice needed. I have the kernel for a light rule system in mind. The purpose of having any rules at all is simple to maintain the sanity of the gamesmaster and his players. The idea is to tell a joint story and have fun.

So that is my intention.

I actually love telling stories so this fits in with my creative writing. I have so many characters and settings that could be used as part of this new project. I will still write my e-books but this is definitely a project for the future.

So yet again I say 'Watch this space.' My life is busy and I am not absolutely sure when this game system will be ready. Sometime next year I hope. I hope others enjoy it as much as I do putting it together?

The ideal lifestyle

If the world was perfect I would get my dream job, earn a fortune and retire.

Except I wouldn't. 

For me writing is an enjoyable activity, it could allow me to earn a few extra quid and it is good for my health. I would love to be a full time writer. I may even be good at it? I will let you judge. One thing I will never do is give. So no retirement for me.

I need to balance a number of competing priorities in life. I need money. I also need to get away from the day job. If writing became the day job I would need to consider a way to escape from the stories in some way.

That could be tricky.

Since I was small I have been using creative writing and storytelling as a survival technique of sorts. I have until recently suffered from stress to high degree. That is fixed. In the past one way I used to relieve the pressure was to invent other worlds to exist in. I told my stories to keep myself going. 

So if I manage to become a famous author there is a chance that I may need to pay someone to allow me to do something during the working week that is dull, tedious, run of the mill or just outright boring.

Even science fiction and fantasy writers need to 'keep it real.'

Having fun CYOA style

I love 'choose your own adventure' books (CYOA)

Interactive fiction comes in many forms and the merger of book and game has been going on for decades. Remember Death-trap Dungeon or Lone wolf?

I am mulling over ways and means of writing one of these beasts. Strictly speaking their is a distinction to be made between the early 'pure' CYOA books and the later 'gamebooks.' The balance between story and game system varied across the various series that were available in the 1980's and 90's

I want to focus on good writing and storytelling. I would like to keep game mechanics to a minimum. I can't compete with mobile or console based gaming and neither would I want to do so. The books I enjoyed the most had three dimensional characters and solid plots. The secret in my opinion will be to find ways of immersing the reader / player in the adventure through good old fashioned storytelling.

Well it will be fun to have a go.

I estimate that early next year I may have a concept book ready. Lets see. I have a lot of things to do before then but it is good to 'timebox' the project. It might actually happen that way.

So which idea will I start with? To find out turn to page....