I'm glad you asked.
Essentially, due to my new writing schedule (which before was essentially I post whenever I feel like it), posting a chapter or piece of flash fiction buys me a week until my next release date, and posting a short story buys me four weeks.
But what of those three weeks in between of no releases?
I figured I’d write short blog posts to fill those days. Honestly, I don’t really expect many people to read these, they’re not going to be very thought-out, just me typing down my thoughts like I was sending you an email (as if people still sent emails to each other these days). Still, I want you, the reader, to know that I am still alive, the feds haven’t hauled me away yet, and my butter consumption hasn’t led me to an early grave.
Next you may think: Why a three-week break after each short story? Aren’t they usually about a chapter’s length?
They are, but there’s also quite a lot more planning and thinking that goes into them. I’ve got no shortage of ideas (I have a backlog of about 30+ written down), but those are bare-bones ideas. I need to spend the time to flesh them out, design the characters, get into their skin, work out the plot and sequence of events…even for a short story, that takes time. Especially as everything needs to have value. You can throw in some filler chapters in a novel to change the pace and expand on the characters, but in a short story, you really have to be focused on the big picture from the start. That’s why I allow myself the extra time.
Not to mention, I need to take some me time. I’ll be honest, I love writing. It’s my main hobby and my life’s focus. But at the same time, it’s not my ONLY hobby, nor the only thing in my life. So it’s nice to be able to take some time off, and just release these short snippets of my thoughts instead of a full chapter.
See, one thing about me as an author is that I’m the definition of sporadic. Unlike a reasonable adult that would sit down before/after work and write a page or two, I take a while to get into “the zone”, and don’t like writing unless I’ve already planned and rewritten things a little in my head. Thus, I basically spend 5-7 hours a Saturday taking up space in a coffee shop/food court/library/park table writing in a concentrated burst of fervour, after having spent the week up ‘till then plotting out what I should write.
Then I usually go home and type it up, because using a laptop/phone is too distracting, so I write everything down old-school style. That takes another hour or so.
Now, you may be wondering; surely in this time, you’ve completed a chapter or two and can just upload for that week, right?
Well yes, but actually no. Basically, I don’t like releasing my work until its fully complete, so that usually means I have to have several months of chapters stocked up. Plus, I can’t spend EVERY Saturday writing, so there’s that.
As to what you can expect from these? I’ll probably take the time to get in-depth a little more with my already published works. I’ll work my way forward in time starting with my earliest works, talking about what lead to my ideas for them, my writing process, if there was someone I was dedicating it to, what I listened to while writing it, etc. I also may release some behind-the-scenes info, fun tidbits about the characters, teasers of future stuff, that kind of thing. Heck, I even have some old lyrics I wrote back when I was creative (and shameless) enough to do that. Maybe it’ll find its way here.
TLDR: These posts show I’m still alive and writing between chapter drops, and allow me to gush about my writing to you, my captive audience. So thanks for that.
All the best y’alls,
--The Yobanashi Girouette (Gironashi)
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