Happy Blog Day Everyone!
We've finally reached the end of the Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz's first epic storyline! And this week, I'm going to talk a little bit of your first step to Nanowrimo success, choosing a project!
The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz
Where else could I enc it for our brave, constant suffering heroes? Seriously though, this storyline has taught me a lot, a few things I did right, and a lot I did wrong. I'm still planning on doing a shorter Xmas story, so, fingers crossed, I can do better there. For now though, the boys will be back to more regular planning next week.
7DayTale: 13 Days of Halloween
Some of you might remember that back in May I posted a series of pictures and tweets from a hashtag, 7DayTale. It's a popular prompt on Twitter/X where you're given a theme and then you write 1 tweet about the story per day for 7 days...hence the name.
October is special though, as instead of 7 days, you get 13 to play with!
So without further ado:
D1
(First posted 2nd October 2023)
Daniel stood at the threshold of the big top, watching as the last of his friends disappeared into the darkness. He noted how worn everything looked, the stench of decay. Yet, following his friends seemed an #onerous task. He heard them calling for him...
D2
(First posted 3rd October 2023)
As he made his way into the darkness, he thought he heard them laughing at him, the sound driving into his #skull. He found his friends were waiting, wearing jovial masks they'd found. In the centre of the ring, a figure appeared, surrounded by shadows.
D3
(First posted 4th October 2023)
The spotlights illuminated the figure, dispelling the shadows around him.
"Ladies and gents, this is the moment you've waited for..." the figure said. "Lost and alone, #wisdom can't help you any more. Welcome to the greatest show!" The ringmaster sang out.
D4
(First posted 5th October 2023)
Daniel didn't know who this ringmaster was, but he recognised the voice from a half-forgotten dream, #cosy, yet sinister.
"Feel free to look around for. I'm sure we'll have something to suit your every taste and whim!" the ringmaster proclaimed.
D5
(First posted 6th October 2023)
Shaken, and having lost sight of his friends, Daniel ventured outside, hoping to #recover his senses. Every amusement was busy, but one had a larger crowd than the rest. From there, a voice pleaded for help. His friend, Lance tied up like a target.
D6
(First posted 7th October 2023)
"Danny! Get me down now!" Lance yelled.
"He made them laugh at you didn’t he?" the ringmaster's voice echoing in his head. Daniel remembered the constant humiliation. Without realising it, he had a spiked ball in his hand, blood dripping like a #sigil.
D7
(First posted 8th October 2023)
"What the fuck you doing, you idiot!" Lance screamed. Daniel's arm moved on it's own, working on instinct. Time slowed to an #aeons crawl as the spiked spear left his hand and impaled Lance through the forehead, shattering his mask and killing him instantly.
For the Eagle eyed amongst you, yes the ringmaster is Gabriel, I do try and maintain visual consistency.
I'll drop the final 6 next week once everything is finished!
Nanowrimo 101
So, you've decided to do Nanowrimo this year? You're itching to get words down on the page, just one question...What are you writing?
Choosing a project can make or break your Nanowrimo attempt.
When I first signed up, I knew precisely what I was doing, not that it helped of course. As I said last week, that project turned out to be Daemon Soul: Avalon, a manuscript that I actually lost for a little while, though I've since archived it.
What about my other Nanowrimos though? Particularly the ones I did manage to achieve?
Well, in 2018, fresh off the adrenaline rush of having my first published short story collection, I dived straight into the first Brennan and Riz novel...or at least, the very first draft of a Boy and a Rat. Comparing the Nanowrimo draft and the published version, I'd say there's almost no similarities anymore other than they're telling the same story. As pretty much the first thing I did in December of that year? Was to junk that draft and start over.
Another year later and I was ready for action! This time, I wanted to do something different, focus on someone different...for 2019, I wrote Valarie: In Her Own Words. This was Valarie writing her memoirs essentially, taking the form of 3 novellas. The first one told of the time before she met Brennan and Riz. The second was when she was forced to sign up with the Ministry of Otherworldly Business in exchange for them helping with Faine...you don't remember that part? Oh, that's right, that was completely nuked during the great rewrite of 2021. That sets the tone of what would eventually befall this manuscript. The third story was going to be one where she would reluctantly team up with Riz to save Brennan.
However, it was never finished as I had to deal with other deadlines and when I came back to it, it was all apocrypha. Valarie’s backstory had changed completely more or less.
Better luck with 2020 right? Yeah about that...
By this point, it'd been 2 years since I started A Boy and A Rat, and the current (at that time) draft was with the publisher for a look over. Thinking it was clear sailing, I decided for Nano 2020, to do the sequel, enter Brennan and Riz: The Long Night! This one is annoying as I had the drive to finish it but plot matters kept tripping me up. I'd already written some tantalising scenes, including a pay off on my cryptic hints about the pair dealing with a dragon but alas, it died a slow and painful death. The final nail in it's coffin was the feedback I eventually got from the publisher and the decision to do more prequel novels rather than advancing the modern day stuff. There is a silver lining of sorts as I can repurpose this manuscript for a fourth novel (if we get that far). We'll see what happens though.
2021 brought with it a change of pace...sort of. Instead of using the 50,000 words for one story, I used them to complete several short stories. This was to be the 2nd short story collection for Brennan and Riz, and while still unpublished currently, the stories are all there, waiting for their moment.
This brings us to last year, and while my Nanowrimo profile says I worked on War of the Fae (the 2nd Brennan and Riz novel) that isn't accurate. I was pumped going in, but a week in, my motivation fell apart and I went sour on writing for the pair. In the end, I used the 50k on other stories here and there (like ghost Duty) and...on Daemon Soul: Avalon. Quite funny how I went full circle back to that.
What's my point in all of this? Well, you have to choose something that motivates you, and ideally something that motivates you for the entire month. While you can swap, it'll make things harder for you.
Next week, I'll talk about what other things you need to prepare for, and the universal question, are you a planner, or a pantser?
Till next time,
Keep on writing!
Peter James Martin
Quick Links
The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Volume 1
The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Book 1: A Boy and A Rat
The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Volume 2
Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Volume 1
Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Volume 2
Harvey Duckman Presents Volume 13
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