Saturday, December 8, 2018

My novella project: NEXT DOOR

Today I'd like to share with you one of my main projects.
First, let's just get it out, I have many projects. And I will always come up with a new idea in the middle of projects, often following a really awesome epic dream or research birthing a new concept. I've learned to write them down and try to stay focused on one story at a time. How hard this can be!

At the moment, I am halfway through a series of three short stories that are meant to complete each other. My tentative title is NEXT DOOR, and it follows 3 neighbours struggling with self-esteem, fitting in, and loneliness.
I finished the first few drafts of the first story a while ago and plan to leave it to stew for a little while until I am done with writing the following short story. My first story focuses on a young woman named Michelle who does not want to interact with people anymore, rarely ever leaving her apartment as to spark rumours in the apartment complex. The second story is about Sam who just moved in after couch surfing at a friend's place following a difficult breakup. The last one will be about this older lady whose husband works away from home and is trying to belong to the block's clique of gossiping ladies. What they all have in common, aside from loneliness, is that they are all neighbours living respectively at apartments 200, 204 and 202. Which will be the titles for each short story.

What I've noticed when I started writing Sam's story is that his was in the present tense while Michelle was in the past.
This made me think. Michelle constantly uses the past to keep her from moving forward while Sam doesn't know what to do with the present. So I thought I'd challenge myself and write my third story in the future tense, something that has not been done often. It makes sense since my third character fears the future.

I wanted to tell you about this other project, a sci-fi fantasy novel, I'm also working on, but realized that until I really get to know my main character and get him to talk to me, I won't be able to get into many details. The plot line is good, but not yet finished, and it's still so new, I might as well wait a little. But it will include travelling to other planets and alchemy. Actually, the move I've been delving into research, the more everything is falling into place, so I am really excited about it!


I'll keep you posted with details and let you know when my short story collection will be sent for publishing—hopefully in a novella format.

No comments:

Post a Comment