It’s time to talk about my writing.
My long-term plan has always been to become a novelist, but many years ago it occurred to me that I needed to make sure I could actually write first. It seemed sensible. I started writing when I was 14, and produced several unfinished novels, the longest of which stands at 75,000 words. When I look back at them, not much of the material is usable as my basic writing style has developed so much since then. I concluded the art of short story writing would need to be achieved before it was worth committing my time to a novel. Short stories have the significant advantage that a project can be started and completed relatively quickly, allowing for a wide range of projects to tested and switched between, and also providing a concrete tangible output, even if its an output that’s commercially less in demand. Important for writers developing their skillset.
And that’s where I’ve been for the past few years. I’ve studied the form of the short story pretty intensively, and I’m probably better at producing short stories than novel prose right now, ironically. I’ll have to deal with that later. My first few short stories I kind of came up with ideas for on the fly, but the vast majority of my work so far has been set within my wider science fiction universe, roughly titled Planetary Dominions. I planned out a few more short stores, and came upon a solid idea for a format. I could produce eight short stories, each of which would focus on and introduce important aspects and factions of the universe whilst operating as completely stand-alone tales. This will serve as a primer for new readers, and when collected as a compilation provides a suitable base-point for other writing to continue from.
Well, we’ve reached a big time, as I’ve officially started work on the final story of the first sequence. It’ll be a big deal to have the first eight complete, as for many years it existed only as a sort of pipe dream. I’ve had a very successful year in terms of developing my output and discipline towards production, it seems as though short stories are coming out at a steady rate now, and long may they continue to do so.
The first sequence as it stands:
Shattered Dawn – Introduces Makron Unification
Void-kin – Introduces Void-kin and Spacers
Xenogen – Introduces Xenological Degenerates
Wasteland – Introduces Nationalist Dominions
Fall of Hykeria – Introduces Technocratic Empires
That Which You Seek – Introduces Malignant Corruption
Legion* – Introduces Universal Legion
Grandfather* – Introduces Cenobites
* Still in production. Names of stories are often subject to change.
The completed works have been submitted for publication just as many places as I can think of. No news yet, but you can bet yourself this’ll be the first place to hear if it does. Legion currently requires quite a heavy rewrite according to some members of my first reader team, and Grandfather of course has just been started.
With hindsight, it wouldn’t surprise me if some of the earlier pieces wind up never published, but that’s ok. It’s a reflection of how far I’ve progressed even throughout the duration of this exercise. When the first compilation gets published, it may well contain the second half of these, and the first half of the next sequence. And there is a next sequence…
If anyone is curious to read one, message me and I’ll be happy to share. Until then, can’t be putting material online for free that is meant to be getting published, That’s the industry, yo.
Science Fiction Writing and Culture 