My regular update on my novel writing progress, including insight into living and working as an indie author with a full-time job and Crohn’s disease.
my_writing_week
Previously on WWW…
A revision plan for draft 3 of The Spike Volume 2 is next up. I’ve been itching to do some actual writing again.
I’m definitely, definitely not setting any targets though. Aiming to create a full revision plan from my (incomplete) list of 104 notes, in one week, would be crazy.
It was four months since my last week off from the day job, but it felt like longer. I knew I was going to be out of town all day Monday visiting friends, so I decided to allow myself the weekend for rest and relaxation, and would then have Tuesday onwards to work on my writing.
On Sunday, I walked into my nearby town centre and ended up in a bookshop (naturally). I’d wanted to begin my Stephen King journey by picking up Carrie, but couldn’t find it, so I had a general browse instead. Knowing I already own enough to last me more than a year at my current reading rate, I restricted myself to buying only three new novels:
Agency by William Gibson
Mindbreaker by Kate Dylan
Vox by Christina Dalcher
In the evening, I began adding the first of my short stories, 0.1_cause&effect, to The Spike series bible.
Monday was a long day, but I did a little more to the series bible when I eventually got home late evening – I was up to 484 consecutive days working on my writing, I wasn’t going to stop so close to my quintuple century.
I was still tired on Tuesday so took it easy, my only writing activity being to add more of 0.1_cause&effect to the series bible.
Progress over the first few days was slow.
On Wednesday morning, whilst eating breakfast, I caught up on the videos of one of the AuthorTubers I follow, Sara Lubratt. Something she said sparked an idea that may help increase the amount of time spent on my creativity going forward – it requires a “normal” week as a baseline first, so I’ll likely tell you about that in the next WWW.
I needed to go into town again, within half a mile of the same bookshop I visited on Sunday. Another quick look wouldn’t hurt…
An hour later, my prior restraint was made somewhat meaningless as I left with four more books:
Carrie by Stephen King (I found it this time!)
Strange Pictures by Uketsu
The Vorrh by Brian Catling
Alchemised by SenLinYu
It wasn’t until Wednesday afternoon, the mid-point of my week off, that I finally kicked my writing into a higher gear.
I’d been compiling all my ideas for edits to Volume 2 from my assorted notebooks, so I finished adding them all to one long spreadsheet. I then did additional research into the profession of one of the new characters, which resulted in more new ideas.
The total list has 151 changes to make of varying severity, from adding a single line to adding whole new chapters. I’m sure I’ll add more it it too as I work through.
On Wednesday evening, I published my latest reading_report for the previous three months. I like to mix up my reading, but the variety (in both genre and quality) this past quarter was unusual even for me.
Thursday and Friday, I went through the list of edits and sorted them by which of the three parts the change needs to be made to. Then I went through and, for the edits where I had just written a vague idea, such as “include more of x“, I worked out what to add, and where.
Finally, I sorted the list into the rough order they’ll appear in the draft.
The whole process didn’t take as long as I’d anticipated. I had planned to mark against each edit which chapter(s) it was going to relate to, in advance; I did this for the new chapters, but for the smaller edits, it’s more sensible to make the change as soon as I’ve found where it needs to go.
Before I could begin, I needed to add one more of my short stories, 0.2_awareness, to the series bible, so I did that today, Saturday, along with this ‘ere WWW.
As per usual, I haven’t spent quite as much time writing during my week off as I’d intended, but it’s important to recharge the batteries too.
When I have holiday, I like to play a relatively short game that I can complete within that time. I put NieR Replicant to one side and played puzzle game The House of Da Vinci 3. I thought it was the best of the series, but isn’t quite on the same level as The Room games that it’s so clearly inspired by. It’s worth playing if you like those games though.
The big positive from my week off is that my revision plan is complete, for part 1 at least, so draft 3 of The Spike Volume 2 begins tomorrow!
I won’t be rewriting it from scratch; I’ll be editing what I’ve already written. You might think that makes it quicker than the initial putting of words onto the blank page, but this draft will be adding bits I’ve missed or not fully fleshed out, and some of it may need research, which can be time consuming. Polishing and perfecting usually takes longer than the initial cut.
I’m not going to set a target date for finishing this draft, not yet. I won’t know until I begin how much there is to do; and it can vary from chapter to chapter.
It will take as long as it takes. (But it would be nice to finish this draft by the end of the year).
Reading this week: Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
Watching this week: The Wire season 2 (rewatch) and Hacks season 1
Playing this week: NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139 and The House of Da Vinci 3
status_report
In addition to the three short stories available to read for free here, there are three more yet to be published that make up The Spike Volume 0. The new three are in the final stages, and will be available some time before Volume 2 is published.
I’m still wavering on a new cover design for a second edition of The Spike Volume 1, and have begun work on a different idea. I think I’ve proven the concept — more work required.
I’m also working on covers for the two individual parts, 1.1_Application Infiltration and 1.2_Laying Down The Law, which are going to be published separately for the first time. I want both to have a similar style and layout, and I have an idea I like for each. The drafts I’ve created feel a little too minimalist, so I’m investigating what I can add that will make it more visually interesting without distracting from the main image.
Draft 2 of The Spike Volume 2 is complete! It contains three separate books from the perspectives of seven characters.
My revision plan is now complete for part 1, so work begins on draft 3 next week.
The aim is to publish Volume 2 in 2026.
Early brainstorming has been done for The Spike Volume 3. I know how it must begin; I have an ending that I think will be great; and I have a long list of ideas to get from one to the other that needs to be whittled down and put in an order. I’m not intending to do much more work on this until revision is complete on Volume 2.
There are a couple of other projects in the works that I’m not ready to share yet – they’ll be announced here first.
connecting_links
The Spike is set in our world, incorporating real events; the links below are relevant to the themes and overarching storyline, and may or may not provide clues to the direction of the series.
I do not necessarily agree with or endorse any of the views within.
An AI became a crypto millionaire. Now it’s fighting to become a person
It’s now almost impossible to work your way to riches, says report into growing wealth gap
Discord hack shows risks of online age checks as internet policing hopes put to the test
Scammers using AI to lure shoppers to fake businesses
Would leaving the ECHR really ‘stop the boats’?
Gen Z faces ‘job-pocalypse’ as global firms prioritise AI over new hires, report says
weekly_inspiration
Every week I share something that’s inspired my creativity.
This week, I continued my rewatch of The Wire season 2, and was particularly struck by the brilliance of the opening scene to episode 7.
Avoiding spoilers, a drug dealer died in the previous episode, so how would the next begin? With his colleague in a florist, looking to buy flowers for the funeral.
The shop owner tries to help, but the typical flower arrangements aren’t appropriate for the relationship the two dealers had. As soon as the owner realises the situation, he leads the dealer out back, where they have a selection of special arrangements for people in his line of work.
It’s genius-level worldbuilding. It lets us know, without explicitly stating it, that there are so many drug dealer deaths locally that the florist has a discrete section just for them, and that he’s become practiced at recognising the customers who want it.
What’s inspired you this week? Please share in the comments.
See you next week.
Arrowmaker Books 