What are you working on right now?

[Valtharius]

I finally posted something on my Royal Road account. It's a short story in a vaguely defined historical setting, written just for fun because the idea appealed to me. The reveal at the end may or may not be obvious to careful readers. Critiques are welcome.

In the Beginning | Royal Road

The importance of an event is frequently known only with the passage of time, so men often fail to realize it when they are participating in something of great and lasting significance. We come upon an example of this, unfolding one night as a group of travelers are gathered around a campfire in...

www.royalroad.com

 

[Wayne Mack]

I have wrapped up writing my second novel attempt; it is in the final stages of review with a writing group. I find that since I finished the writing, I have not been able to garner interest in doing a pass of editing (which is sorely needed). What I have learned from my second attempt is that my first should probably be put on a DNR (do not resuscitate) list, except, perhaps, to be rewritten from scratch. I still have hopes for my second, though it needs that editing pass that I am not doing. Meanwhile, I have decided to take the characters and world from my second novel and create a follow on tale.

 

[Phyrebrat]

Finally got fed up with this one sitting around lying heavy on my conscience and finished it:

https://goshwowcomics.wordpress.com/2022/02/19/596/

That is a thing of beauty. Made me do a bad swear. Followed your blog. I've not gone through your blog yet, but do you have any published outside of the blog? Can they be bought/read on iOS do you know?

I find that since I finished the writing, I have not been able to garner interest in doing a pass of editing (which is sorely needed).

I can sympathise. Seeing as you've decided to crack on with another story in the same world, my suggestion would be to put away the second draft and work on your new project. It is remarkable how much clearer your mind will be after a few months' break. I sat on my last one for about 4 to 5 months and when I reread it for editing, it was like reading it afresh and much easier -- not to mention enjoyable -- to edit. There must be something in human nature that makes us want to put our work out into the world asap after finishing, but I firmly believe in letting it lie fallow for a few months. Fresh eyes take the hardship and boredom from editing.

 

[JS Wiig]

I’m in one of those “my writing sucks so why bother” self-pity party funks right now, but still managing to churn out swill for the challenges, so there is that…

 

[Anne Martin]

Hey, JS, I've never let the "my writing sucks so why bother" party get in the way of writing more that sucks that no one will read anyway. Just keep writing and eventually something will work for you.

I am progressing slowly through my latest venture, Failsafe, a bit over 20K into it, while trying to manufacture an ending to The Fantastical Adventures of S-69 Lost (80K). It's the first of a series, so it doesn't need a hard ending. Failsafe is the end of a 4-part series, so I need to be more careful with it, tying up all the subplots and red herrings. For inspiration, I have been working on some (almost) nonsense poetry, which - oddly enough - helps enrich my prose. Here is a sample stanza from today's offering:

punch drunk at the sight of pineapple
polymers pressed together in a plastic
sandwich sliced in quartermaster rhymes
two steps short of a dodecophany

 

[Stuart Suffel]

Has anyone answered 'Myself' yet?

 

[redzwritez]

In the process of writing my first novel. It's definitely in its infancy but I'm hoping to get the first draft finished and start really sorting some of the little things in it out.

 

[psychotick]

Hi,

Just completed the first draft of the next Barton Villa book - and I only started it two weeks ago! It's odd, because I never planned on writing another BV Book. But it just came to me and I had to write it. Now I'm just starting the process of reworking bits and pieces before I start on the edits. I'm a little worried about it because it contains a strong message about racism and I've got to get rid of anything that sounds like preaching.

Cheers, Greg..

 

[alexvss]

A neo-noir short-story about magical cats. I'll first try to sell it to CatsCast but, if rejected, I'll submit it to other markets. I have the entire piece outlined and am currently drafting the second chapter. I believe it will be around 5000 words long when finished. I like the story a lot: it's funny as hell!

 

[stevejk]

So, one thing I have noticed about writing my 2 SF novels is that I can write short stories and do some low-key ghost writing with no problem! But now that I am writing my books, after many years of research and outlining, I have to develop my own style of writing that is me, and I haven't yet...I'm not fast at typing and my grammar is improving the more I write, but I can do a simple short story 20-25Kish words in just a few weeks and half of it is improved writing and the story is always on my mind.
Now as far as my novels go, very slow. I know the stories by heart, and I can tell you about the scenes in sequence, word by word and in appropriate detail. But in writing it, all goes awry, (possibly my dyslexia.) My brain just stops and what I think ends up being a mess when I type it out. So, I'll write a few paragraphs and then have to look them over; are the in sequence and do the make sense to what I'm trying to say? (This takes a few days.) Even writing this out, no problem at all! Just off the top of my head! But the novels...only the novels...Thunk! And all goes blank.
Just had to share with everyone. I know that the more I write the better and faster I'll get!

 

[THX1138]

Hello all! First post.
Working on a science fiction that I have been playing around with for some time now.
Trying to get the wording for the 1st chapter down in order to set the tone for the rest of the book.

 

[Rob Arnold]

I'm in the early stages of a alt-history/fantasy novel.

The premise is that at some point in evolution, all women developed magic, but no man can do it. No man at all.

This led to men not being the dominant gender, since physical abuse and dominance counts for nothing when even the weakest magic using female can stop a physical attack.

So I'm busy trying to work out what that world would look like.

Does anyone have any opinions on whether this is a good idea? Personally I can't get it out of my head, I keep thinking of the patriarchy in the real world, and how it has abused its power throughout real history, and essentially I want a fantasy world where it is not just simply reversed, but better, in that the women of my world are equal to men, and they at the very least try to not abuse the power that they have.

As a final note, I am fully aware of the female only magic system in The Wheel Of Time, but I view my idea as different.

In that saga, men and women used to be able to both use different sides of magic, but the men's magic became tainted, so they could not use it without going mad, which then led to mostly only female magic users. However, male users would frequently crop up, go mad and have to be dealt with. In my world, no man has ever been able to use magic, and no man ever will. It is essentially biological, that women have this power.

Also in Wheel of Time, magic users (men or women) are special, there are vast swathes of human beings, male or female that are not magical. In my world it is different and simple. All women can use magic (some are stronger than others, just like in the real world some people are physically stronger than others) and no man, not a single one, can.

Just wondering what people thought of this idea

 

[psychotick]

Hi,

My thought is about the power dynamic between men and women. If every woman has magic - and it's any magic and possibly powerful, would men have any place at all? My thought would be that the gifts have to be limited and mostly weak - otherwise men just become slaves at best.

Cheers, Greg.

 

[Christine Wheelwright]

I'm in the early stages of a alt-history/fantasy novel.

The premise is that at some point in evolution, all women developed magic, but no man can do it. No man at all.

This led to men not being the dominant gender, since physical abuse and dominance counts for nothing when even the weakest magic using female can stop a physical attack.

So I'm busy trying to work out what that world would look like.

Does anyone have any opinions on whether this is a good idea? Personally I can't get it out of my head, I keep thinking of the patriarchy in the real world, and how it has abused its power throughout real history, and essentially I want a fantasy world where it is not just simply reversed, but better, in that the women of my world are equal to men, and they at the very least try to not abuse the power that they have.

As a final note, I am fully aware of the female only magic system in The Wheel Of Time, but I view my idea as different.

In that saga, men and women used to be able to both use different sides of magic, but the men's magic became tainted, so they could not use it without going mad, which then led to mostly only female magic users. However, male users would frequently crop up, go mad and have to be dealt with. In my world, no man has ever been able to use magic, and no man ever will. It is essentially biological, that women have this power.

Also in Wheel of Time, magic users (men or women) are special, there are vast swathes of human beings, male or female that are not magical. In my world it is different and simple. All women can use magic (some are stronger than others, just like in the real world some people are physically stronger than others) and no man, not a single one, can.

Just wondering what people thought of this idea

Your premise rang some bells and with a bit of googling I found this:

The Power review – a shocking gender war

Naomi Alderman’s anarchic sci-fi satire imagines a future in which girls can shoot bolts of electricity from their fingers

www.theguardian.com

I haven't read it but it seems somewhat similar in topic. And then there is my own first fantasy novel which takes place in a female dominated world. But that's erotica.

 

[Guanazee]

@stevejk Write what scenes you have thought of and reorg them later. That helps to get through a rough draft.

 

[Rob Arnold]

Your premise rang some bells and with a bit of googling I found this:

The Power review – a shocking gender war

Naomi Alderman’s anarchic sci-fi satire imagines a future in which girls can shoot bolts of electricity from their fingers

www.theguardian.com

I haven't read it but it seems somewhat similar in topic. And then there is my own first fantasy novel which takes place in a female dominated world. But that's erotica.

I was aware of that one, it came out relatively recently. Again, my one is different, because The Power is sort of high concept, it imagines our real world, suddenly changed because (I forget why) women can suddenly shoot electricity from their fingers, but they couldn't before.

In my idea, it is biological evolution. I haven't worked it out completely yet, but at some point, when we were still more or less apes, human beings split along gender lines, with women developing magic. This completely redrew gender relations from that moment to this (well, to when my story is set, it is still currently looking like a medieval fantasy, just a medieval fantasy/alt history, i.e. there'll be no kings, popes, other male oppressors because all women having magic has totally revamped that...)

I'm currently thinking the magic awakens in women with puberty, so perhaps it originates in the womb? As in the creation of life is magic?

In your novel what is the premise as to how it is a female dominated world? This subject really interests me.

 

[Christine Wheelwright]

In your novel what is the premise as to how it is a female dominated world? This subject really interests me.

I will PM you a link. The imaginary world is pre-industrial, there is a goddess-worshiping organized religion, polyandry, male slaves and plenty of gratuitous bdsm-flavored sex.

 

[Rob Arnold]

I will PM you a link. The imaginary world is pre-industrial, there is a goddess-worshiping organized religion, polyandry, male slaves and plenty of gratuitous bdsm-flavored sex.

Sounds great! Thanks for this

 

[Wayne Mack]

I'm in the early stages of a alt-history/fantasy novel.

The premise is that at some point in evolution, all women developed magic, but no man can do it. No man at all.

This led to men not being the dominant gender, since physical abuse and dominance counts for nothing when even the weakest magic using female can stop a physical attack.

So I'm busy trying to work out what that world would look like.

Does anyone have any opinions on whether this is a good idea? Personally I can't get it out of my head, I keep thinking of the patriarchy in the real world, and how it has abused its power throughout real history, and essentially I want a fantasy world where it is not just simply reversed, but better, in that the women of my world are equal to men, and they at the very least try to not abuse the power that they have.

As a final note, I am fully aware of the female only magic system in The Wheel Of Time, but I view my idea as different.

In that saga, men and women used to be able to both use different sides of magic, but the men's magic became tainted, so they could not use it without going mad, which then led to mostly only female magic users. However, male users would frequently crop up, go mad and have to be dealt with. In my world, no man has ever been able to use magic, and no man ever will. It is essentially biological, that women have this power.

Also in Wheel of Time, magic users (men or women) are special, there are vast swathes of human beings, male or female that are not magical. In my world it is different and simple. All women can use magic (some are stronger than others, just like in the real world some people are physically stronger than others) and no man, not a single one, can.

Just wondering what people thought of this idea

I think this could provide a very interesting world to explore. Just brainstorming some ideas. See if anything strikes your fancy.

• Perhaps women, despite magic, face a glass ceiling in what they are allowed to do.
• Perhaps use of magic is viewed as manipulative and frowned upon
• Perhaps women become the military forces, but the overall objectives of warfare are decided by men.
• Perhaps women are barred from sports because use of magic is an unfair advantage
• Could explore the realm of transgender individuals. Those identifying as female, yet lacking magic, or those identifying as male, but have magic.
• Consider showing a range of variation in society. 'Alpha' women who use magic to oppress men and 'caring' women who work with men, perhaps a set of women who have been taught to be ashamed of their powers and hide them from men.
• Perhaps there is a fear of women being 'too emotional' and unleashing powers at random. Maybe 'polite' women suppress their use of magic.
• Perhaps there is a radical male underground seeking to control women.
• Perhaps there is a radical female underground seeking to subjugate men.

There are probably other ways to show some level of conflict in some parts of society, even if the general tone of the world is better. I think this could provide a very good backdrop for a story, I hope you develop it further.

 

[THX1138]

This is just a brainstorm, so please take it as so.

Sounds kind of like 'The Dark Crystal' to me with aggressive Skeksis(M) and Gelfling that can fly (F) and those that Gelfings that can't (M) kind of direction? Then again, the Skeksis are both M and F with A type personalities.
Perhaps 'Stranger in a Strang Land.' with a twist?

From an Anime point, there are too many refs, like "Girls mit Panzer." or "Ghost in the Shell." that comes to mind. (There are a lot of F over M themes in Jap Anime/Manga.) Ranma 1/2 takes in both and it was written by a woman. Just wondering.

It takes both to equal one. Although social and political media portray something else.
Biologically, (M) are 'protect/kill 1st, nurture/harvest 2nd.' While (W) are 'nurture/harvest 1st, protect/kill 2nd.' It's a balance.
So, in your story what/where is the balance?

In combat/discissions; emotions need to be suppressed in order to succeed. So how/when/who/why?

In the Star Wars mythology, there are both M and F Jedis. But how they both think and fight are different. Though both require each other at some point and in some way, but neither 'want' the other. Solitude with the Force is desired by both, thus bringing both together.

Something to think about.

Again, just brainstorming!

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