For the past week, I’ve been working on some character background for the protagonist of my novel. The more I wrote, the more I realized that what I was creating wasn’t just a list of details, but an actual story. Last night I took what I had, dumped it into a single word document, then wrote out a one-paragraph outline of what I thought her backstory should be, based on what I had. Well, the one paragraph is also the synopsis for what will be my first Tacoma Steampunk novella. I hadn’t planned on this, but there it is.
So, I’m setting aside the novel for the time being, and beginning the novella. Since there’s already some interest in it (only interest, though, with no promise of anything beyond “I’ll read it”), it makes sense to finish it first. I figure I can manage about 500-1000 words every evening, and have it completed before Christmas. I want to limit it to no more than 20k words, since a bit of research has made it obvious that shorter novellas have more markets available to them for submission than longer (i.e. in the 30-40k range). However, because the protagonist is now a 15-year-old female, that once again knocks out a number of the markets, including the one place I would have loved to have sent this to. Oh well….
I may post snippets of the work here, since I have all of two dedicated readers here, and am pretty sure I won’t get any “OMG U suck/stole my ideaz” backtalk. lol. I’ll post word counts, but I’m not going to be slavish about doing it every day. I don’t know if I should post the synopsis – to be honest, when people usually start describing their work in elaborate detail online (especially on Livejournal), I tend to zone out. It’s like reading other people’s dreams – none of it makes sense to me, and it’s all rather boring (although I think it’s a good clue and harsh truth that if readers zone out, your synopsis/outline isn’t working, and neither is your story). I think all you need to know for know is that it takes place in an alternate steampunk Tacoma – one in which the Chinese weren’t successfully driven out in 1885 (this actually happened in “real” Tacoma).
Now I must take my turkey-laden belly to the gym. Because I am not about to to become the female Marlon Brando of writers. Heh.