When I set my mind to do something, I decide to do it, and I do it. It's not rocket science. I couldn't do rocket science even if I set my mind to do so. That's not supposed to sound as complex as it did. I am not a Math person, and I'm pretty certain there is Math involved with both rockets and science. I am a wordsmith. I write. I mull words, I create them, I put them together, and I often times misuse them. If I had to live without words I would not be living. This much I know.
So the book I'm writing now is titled "Edinburgh" and it is a romance novel. It is a current or present-time book, not a period, or a back-in-the-day type book. Nope, it is taking place in real-time, but I don't think I'll say "2023" as it will be moot sometime down the road. I think there could be events that take place that make (or allow) people think it's 2023 or so. I did say "post-Pandemic" at one point; so that's at least after 2021-2022. We'll go with that.
I have set a goal to write the book in a very very short amount of time. I won't say a week or two weeks, but I think I'm going to write the book really quickly. I am not going to make too much of a fuss about it. I'm not going to redo or overthink it. I'm really just writing it and watching it develop. This isn't one of those books where I do a great deal of research and then make up things to fit the narrative. Nope, this is going to be a talk-and-type sort of book. I'll literally make up stories, thoughts, discussions, and such as I go throughout the day. I'll pretend in my head and then put it on paper. I'll carry on conversations with myself and pretend to be every character; that should give the neighbors something to watch.
I've written 6500 words in about 3 or 4 hours. Today was the first day of writing, and although I thought I would be starting at the beginning and then going through the book in chronological order basically, that's not what happened. I wrote out Chapters One and Two only to realize they are longer and more detailed than what I would want to read if I were reading the book. You see, the first chapters should grab the reader, and keep them hooked for a while; then you put in the long drawn out boring tedious stuff. That's my theory anyway. It works for me. That's my style, we'll say that...yeah, that's me.
OK, so Elyn, the main character, will be fashioned a lot from my own personal experiences, but she'll have so many experiences I only wished I had, or dreamed I had, or fantasized that I had. She'll be the me inside my head. She'll do what I wish I could do with or without people watching. She and I are equally bold, but she'll get away with more than I think I would. After all, in Elyn's world Jude is the creator of the results of her actions. In Jude's world, it's not the same; believe me. (am I really speaking in 3rd person right now?) If I did what I will have Elyn do, I could expect a completely different outcome. People like bold people; they live through them; Elyn is certainly bold.
Right now, as I've written two chapters, I only have about 80,000 words to go. If I keep up this pace, writing about 6500 words every day, it will only take me 13 days to write the book. I can do that. I can do more. I can possibly take the entire day to write 15,000-18,000 words and then I'd be way way way ahead of schedule, but there is no real schedule. The thing that is driving me to do this book so quickly is that I may be deployed soon and I won't have the time to finish it the way I wanted to. By deployed I'm not talking about a military deployment; I am a claims adjuster. We get deployed to write estimates for damages. I'm an auto desk worker.
If I am deployed soon I will work 6 or 7 days a week from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. giving me only a few hours to write. I mean, I would actually write during that time, but I should also get up and move about; exercise, eat, and walk the dogs. (spoiler: I will walk the dogs and eat throughout the day. I work from home) I'll get the book written soon, and then because I can, I'll format it and upload it with the new handy-dandy book cover I made yesterday. BAM...soon, very soon, the romantic quirkier-than-quirky novel "EDINBURGH" will be published and on sale through Amazon.
Since I'm writing the book on a whim, it may or may not be written to the liking of anyone whatsoever, but I know I like it, and as I've said before, I write to write. I don't write to sell. If it happens to sell I'll be happy. I'll use it as a means to ask the Scottish government to give me a creative Visa so I can invest time and money into my adopted land; it's a win-win. You and I both know that some people will love the book; you can't help but please some when you write and try to be pleasing. I don't try to please anyone other than myself because I don't expect anyone to like what I produce. My answer is usually if you don't like it don't read it, and if you think you can do better, please do.
Right now, in the two chapters I've written, Elyn has been suspended from teaching because a student's parent isn't happy that Elyn writes about violence; but she is a Creative Writing teacher, and there's the fact that most novels that sell are about sex and/or violence...just sayin'. Teachers aren't necessarily paid well, so some of them supplement their careers in different ways, which include ghostwriting or simply writing. Elyn Fletcher is a writer first, and a teacher second. That also resonates with me. I think the book will be therapeutic for me because I'm still somewhat upset and discombobulated about all the years and times I was a teacher when I was dismissed, fired, suspended, and/or terminated for stupid and odd reasons. It happened to me seven times, and all seven times I took it to hearing and won. Elyn has a similar fate.
I'll not harp on the whole teacher-bashing, but I do get my licks in. The book is about going to Edinburgh, uncovering history in her own past, and finding an old murder coverup that she wants to write about because it's not only closer to her family than she had ever been led to know, and it's bloody interesting!! You'll have to read it to find out, but Elyn takes the trip seriously enough to remain; which again, makes sense to me. If I could do it today, I'd be there. Maybe "Edinburgh" will be my ticket to living just outside of the real Edinburgh. I don't want to live inside it really, I don't like tourists, and where Elyn also has the same propensity, she doesn't let it stop her from helping those who mistake her for a local; in fact, that bit makes her smile.
Photo Credit: Pixaby.com
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