My regular spoiler-free 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.
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Previously on WWW…
The initial vague target I set of a 50% split between Creativity and Consumption isn’t far away. I reckon I can do that next week.
Place your bets!
It’s been nice to have a relatively routine week, with no illness or internet problems or anything else to disrupt my writing.
On Sunday, I was out for a good chunk of the day visiting family, which was good. When I got home, I did a minor refresh of my homepage. Just a tweak for now, I’m saving a major site rebuild as part of the release schedule for The Spike Volume 1 second edition, through to publication of Volume 2.
In the evening, I finished reading Kill Process (Kill Chain #1) by William Hertling, which I enjoyed. It’s a technothriller that doesn’t go light on the tech. The start was a little repetitive, but it got better from there, and the final part brought the thrills. My full review is on Goodreads and will be in my reading_report for q4 when that’s posted in January.
Monday, I outlined a new chapter 0.2.1.11 for The Spike Volume 2 draft 3. As mentioned last week, it’s in a setting I didn’t think I’d ever write in, but I think that’s why it should be interesting.
I also made another effort at writing a blogpost that I began last week, but it wasn’t working. This was the third different subject matter I’d tried in the past couple of weeks, and all have been abandoned. I spent some time thinking of fresh topic ideas, hoping that would spark something, and I think it did. More on that later.
On Tuesday, I wrote the review for Kill Process (Kill Chain #1) by William Hertling, and began drafting the new chapter 0.2.1.11.
When writing a first draft, I deliberately won’t go back and edit it as I’m going along. In that early stage, when there’s a chance what I’m writing could be cut completely, it’s better not to spend too much time on it, and it doesn’t matter if it’s a little rough because that’s what later drafts are for.
As this is the third draft of the book, and everything else is quite well developed by this point, when I’m writing new chapters, at the start of each session, I begin by editing what I wrote the previous time. This is slower, but means the new stuff catches up to the quality of the rest of the chapters.
Work continued on the new chapter on Wednesday and during my lunch-hour on Thursday, but on Wednesday night, I’d had an idea I was excited about for my new blogpost, and I wanted to begin work on it, so chapter 0.2.1.11 took a backseat for Thursday evening and Friday while I outlined it and began writing. The format is a little different, which makes it a bit longer than some of my previous posts, so I needed an outline. If I can pull off what I’m aiming for, I think it’ll be good. Keep an eye out for it in the next week or two.
Today, Saturday, I wrote more for chapter 0.2.1.11. It’s turned into a longer chapter than I’d anticipated, and isn’t finished yet. It might need cutting down, or maybe splitting into two chapters. Once I’ve finished it, I’ll put it aside for a while, then come back to it with fresh eyes before making any final judgement.
I worked a little more on a cover for the Volume 1 second edition, and still wasn’t happy with what I created. I may need to abandon the idea I’ve been working on, I can’t get a vision of how it will work without it looking like an obvious rip off of its inspiration. More thought needed.
And I finished the week by writing this WWW.
So, where did my Creativity vs Consumption percentage end? Did I meet my 50% target after 46% last week?
Yep. 54%.
Keeping the records for this has certainly made me think more about how I spend my free time, and I haven’t spent so many hours on my writing since NaNOWriMo last November. There’s no doubt my new plan has had a positive impact.
I’m going to keep recording my Creativity vs Consumption, but I haven’t decided yet whether to set myself a target. I think if I have a minimum, and I get ahead of it, I’ll ease off rather than pushing on, which isn’t ideal. Keeping an eye on my running percentage will let me know when I’m falling behind, though, which is the kick up the arse I need sometimes.
Hmm. Pondering required.
Reading this week: Alchemised by SenLinYu
Watching this week: The Wire season 3 (rewatch) and Wolf Like Me season 2
Playing this week: NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139 and The Medium
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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 3 is under way for The Spike Volume 2! I’d tentatively like to finish revisions by the end of 2025.
Volume 2 is my biggest, most complex project to date, containing three separate books from the perspectives of seven characters.
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.
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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.
There is no such thing as conscious artificial intelligence
Top 10 US billionaires’ collective wealth grew by $698bn in past year – report
In Grok we don’t trust: academics assess Elon Musk’s AI-powered encyclopedia
Google plans to put datacentres in space to meet demand for AI
LLMs show a “highly unreliable” capacity to describe their own internal processes
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Every week I share something that’s inspired my creativity.
This week, I’m sharing my favourite live performance from Jeff Buckley.
From what I’ve read, Jeff liked self-promotion about as much as I do; he wanted his music to speak for itself. Boy, did it.
If he’d started out in the age of social media, he’d have gone viral every time he played live. Each performance was different, each its own special event, but I don’t think he’s ever sounded better than in this recording of Grace, the title track of his only album.
What’s inspired you this week? Please share in the comments.
See you next week.
Arrowmaker Books 