Change happens, and then it becomes the new normal. Sometimes this can take weeks or months (or years). Sometimes it feels almost instantaneous.
It feels like I’ve been in this new job for months already, even though it’s only been three weeks. And although I’ve only released three chapters of my Grim Khonsu serial, it feels like I’ve been working on it for far, far longer.
Probably because I have. I had the idea bouncing around in my head for age, considering practicalities and deciding if I wanted to take the project on. Then there was the planning. And even though I’m only releasing a chapter a week, I don’t want to get caught out, so I’m working a few weeks in advance. I already have another three chapters scheduled, and have many more in various stages of drafting and editing.
So, how’s it going?
The first thing to say is that I’m enjoying it. I’m having fun writing the story, and I’m getting a lot of satisfaction from finally putting more fiction out into the world. While I’ve not received much (any?) direct feedback yet, the chapters I’ve posted have garnered more views than these behind-the-scenes posts, which is gratifying. A few more readers have subscribed. So things are generally very positive.
But there have been problems.
Even though I like to plan stories, they always change as I start writing. I’m fine with this. Planning gives a kind of idealised view of the story, but things don’t always work out the way we envisage, and I’ll spot plot-holes and inconsistencies as I write. I also find that characters don’t become fully developed until I start tapping away at the keyboard. And these changes mean altering things in each editing pass, especially in earlier chapters. I realise I haven’t laid sufficient groundwork for later developments, or that I’ve started down avenues that lead nowhere.
Obviously, releasing a story as a serial means that those earlier chapters are already out there. Yes, I could go back and alter them (and I probably will when spelling errors come to light, because a few always slip through), but that would get confusing for anyone who’s already read the unedited versions. So I have to go with what I’ve published, and do the best I can to make everything else follow smoothly.
I’m countering this by working in advance. Having future chapters ready not only prepares me for those interruptions that will surely crop up and take away my writing time, but it also gives me some flexibility in making those changes.
At the moment, I’m approaching the climax of the story in my first draft—and I know there is a lot to change. Over the next few weeks I’ll read through everything and see what needs altering in upcoming chapters. I’ll also hopefully spot continuity errors.
I’m playing about with Notebook.lm to help with this. Yes, it’s AI, but I’m not using it to write any words in the story. I’m using it as a tool—because that’s what AI ultimately is (or should be). By feeding in each chapter, I can have Notebook.lm look out for those errors. I can interrogate the AI about promises I’ve made to the reader, or open loops in earlier chapters that haven’t yet been closed. I’ve also been asking it about genre tropes—I’m calling Grim Khonsu a sci-fi detective noir, so how does it stand up against those separate genres?
I’m also using Notebook.lm to keep track of characters and places. I often add incidental characters and places as I write, and as I intend to write more Grim Khonsu stories it makes sense to keep track of all these mentions. I could do this manually, but why not use a decent tool for the job? And as this list of characters and places grows, I have more things to pull from later. If I need another incidental character, maybe I can call on one I’ve already used? And if a new story takes Grim into a different part of Khonsu, why not use an area I’ve already mentioned in passing?
Another tool I’m using in writing Grim Khonsu is Joplin. This is basically a note-taking app that syncs between phone and computer.
Why use this, when I’ve been a dedicated Scrivener user for years?
I’m not abandoning Scrivener. Far from it. I’m still using it for editing Grim Khonsu. But, with my new job and altered routines, I needed some way of writing when it’s not convenient to boot up the laptop. Scrivener doesn’t yet have an Android app, so that’s out. I tried a few other apps, but none worked quite how I needed them to. But Joplin did.
I don’t know if I’d write a full ‘proper’ novel in Joplin, but it works great for a serial. I can arrange notes in folders, so I have a Grim Khonsu folder with separate notes for each chapter (which I then copy and paste into Scrivener for editing). I also have a few notes of, well, notes. Because each chapter has to be self-contained to an extent, working in a ‘smaller’ app helps me focus on the arc in each chapter.
I have a couple of Bluetooth keyboards, too. One is a folding thing that’s awkward for fast typing, but it fits in my pocket, so it’s very transportable. The other is still small, but has full-sized keys, and I can type almost as fast on that as I can on my laptop. I’ve used this second keyboard to write Grim Khonsu while having a coffee at the climbing wall, or in my car when I get to work too early. And, if I don’t have either keyboard to hand, I can always use the phone’s on-screen keyboard. That’s not ideal for writing drafts of the chapters, but it works fine for quick notes (especially as thoughts arise as I’m plodding on at work).
This new way of working already feels comfortable, and I can see myself using it for the next season of Grim Khonsu. Yes, I’m enjoying the project so much that I want to continue. I already have ideas for Grim’s next case. I don’t want to get too carried away yet, though—this first story needs to be my focus, and I also have those other Unity-related projects in progress (the large-scale space opera itself and the spin-off Chronicles Of Seraph adventures).
But what do you think of Grim Khonsu? If you haven’t read it yet, you can find the first chapter at twiain.substack.com/p/chapter-1. Give it a read and tell me what you think. After all, a story is a conversation. Without readers, a story is nothing.
This post is the latest in a series I’m running on Substack, chronicling my work on this space-opera project. If you’d like to read these posts as they appear, please consider subscribing for free.
TW Iain 