The Forty Weeks

What were The Forty Weeks?

The forty weeks was a personal challenge that I set for myself to write and release a short story every week. I also made some very ambitious goals for other written projects, not to necessarily achieve all of them, but as a way for me to grow as a writer.

The inspiration came sometime after completing the first draft for my debut fantasy novel. I was nearing the time of editing and felt that, not only was my writing not as strong as I wanted it to be, but I also wasn’t taking it seriously enough because I was too laxed when it came to strengthening my skill in the craft.

So, to do something about it, the forty weeks started.

What did I expect during The Forty Weeks?

The only two expectations for the process was to improve my writing and become more disciplined. I didn’t set expectations to meet goals and create a body of amazingly written work. I needed only to simply write and be better at it in the end.

Did I complete my goals?

Only one of the stated goals were completed in its entirety. Lol. Had I expected that? Absolutely not. And I’m okay with that.

The first goal was to write four to five screenplays. I drafted three of the five screenplays. They’re nothing extensive, just a collection of short films that I hope to have animated one day. The other two, I decided to drop all together. There was a good bit of initial inspiration for them, but when I went to actually put something on paper…nothing. That was enough for me not to pursue them further.

The next goal was to conduct the first round of edits on my manuscript. I did manage to go through the entirety of it and make some major edits, but in doing so, I found major flaws with the characters, plot, and worldbuilding. There was also a revelation about the audience I wanted to write for. My initial manuscript was written in a similar style to the first two Harry Potter novels. Then, it became disconnected in places because I’d write in a style that would be better suited for an adult audience, and I found myself wanting to lean more to that side. This came after watching the Game of Thrones series (I’m aware it’s not like the books in many ways) and reading the first couple chapters of The Way of Kings (I haven’t gotten further than that because I started reading The Lord of the Rings series after watching the film trilogy for the first time. Still on the first book because much of my time has been focused elsewhere.)

With all those things in mind, by the end of the summer I did a complete rewrite of the plot with the intention for it to be geared toward the adult audience. I’ll begin writing tomorrow.

The children’s chapter book has a completed manuscript. I did begin work on the illustrations but brought the process to a halt for the focus to be put on an upcoming project.

Though I did not publish the children’s book in 2023, it will be published this year. Similar to what happened with the manuscript for the fantasy novel, I requested a complete change in style for the illustrations. I’m sure this happened because when I was deciding on the style, I wanted them drawn in, I was unable to communicate effectively how they should’ve looked. There was also a struggle to find the desired style. Combine those things with a feeling of pressure and a race against the clock (for no reason), a hasty decision was made.

Initially it caused a small issue but thankfully it was easy to overcome.

No agent was needed, because nothing is ready for that step yet and I’m sure even if they were, I wouldn’t’ve been. Once I found out how demanding the process was, there was nothing to do but laugh at myself. I was kidding myself with that one.

Finally, though I really wanted to participate in another NANOWRIMO, it would’ve been foolish to focus time on the second novel when I have to essentially start the first installment over again.

What happened during the forty weeks?

Prior to this undertaking I began somewhat of a transformative process and that was truly the major catalyst for all the changes, growth, and shifts of focus over the past nine months. And I couldn’t feel better about it .

Conclusion

Over the last forty weeks, I’ve redisciplined myself in my career as a writer. I’ve learned plenty and decided the best way to manage my time going forward. The majority of my time is now focused on my debut fantasy novel, building an audience/following on social media, starting a website/blog, and beginning the process for the end goal of becoming a published author.

The website is now published, and I’ve provided a link for it below. Any short stories I’ve published on Vocal have been deleted with the exception of The Forty Weeks entries. Any further works by me will be published by me in my monthly newsletter. The site also contains a blog and a vlog with content being about my upcoming books, life, and side projects. There is also a roadmap for the fantasy novel that I created to share the process with any that might want to support me on the journey.

This will more than likely be my final publishing on Vocal Media. This site and the connections I’ve made with a good many of you have helped me to grow proudly as an author and writing and for that, I thank each and every one of you that offered me sound advice, resource recommendations, and encouragement.

I’ll still conduct some shadow reading of works by writers here on Vocal and the ones I truly enjoy I’ll provide a review on the novel/short story review column in my monthly newsletter in the hopes of supporting some of you here.

Happy New Year!

Website Link

I hope you join me there and sign-up for the newsletter!