This episode of Sonitotum is also a Scribtotum article. This is the first time I’m “crossing the streams” between my podcast and my blog… combining the streams, really… but just like those big annual comic book crossovers where Nothing Will Ever Be The Same, This Is Not A Dream. Not An Imaginary Story.
It’s an Event.
Was that all a little overboard with the comic book references?
Did I really need to use emphasis capitalization?
Are ya with me?
I’m trying something out.
I need your help to make it work.
The Autumn Project (2018)
September through December, 2018, I’m going to plan and draft my next novel.
Thing is, on my own, I’m terrible at building and maintaining a consistent writing practice. Just awful.
If you’ve been part of my community for a while, you know the last time I published a novel was over five years ago, and it’s been four years since I released any kind of fiction at all.
I’m the Prince of Procrastination. The Fauntleroy of False Starts. If a creative life was an obstacle course, I’d have mud all over me and be tangled in barbed wire… which is among the reasons I declared a creative reset at the end of April of this year.
Since then, I’ve managed to meet and exceed my goal of putting out (on average) two episodes of Sonitotum per month. And since July, I’ve been writing new installments of Hazy Days and Cloudy Nights: “How It All Got Started” for my Patreon patrons. I’ve composed and recorded some music. And I’ve written over twenty five thousand words of Scribtotum articles and Sonitotum show notes.
I think I’ve warmed up. The training wheels are getting wobbly. I can see farther down the road.
It’s time to tackle another novel.
For all the reasons I wrote above, I don’t think I can do it alone.
I’ll Share Everything. You Keep Me Honest.
I need some accountability.
So I’m opening the doors, pulling up the blinds, and turning on all the lights.
In the interest of transparency and vulnerability, in the spirit of teaching as I learn, and with a beginner’s mind, I’ll share every step of planning and writing this novel with Sonitotum listeners and my Patreon patrons.
Weekly Autumn Project Minisodes of Sonitotum
Every week, beginning the week ending September 15, 2018, I’ll record a brief episode of Sonitotum reviewing my progress across the preceding seven days. My Patreon patrons, as they do with every episode of the podcast, will get the uncut and unexpurgated editions of those shows a few days before an edited version goes out to the general public.
In the show notes, I’ll share resources and tools I’m using, as well as limited work-in-progress screenshots and sneak peeks.
Patrons Get Fly-On-The-Wall Access
For my Patreon patrons pledging $3.00 per month or more, I’ll provide a live stream during each writing session (usually daily).
When I say “fly on the wall,” I mean it.
You will see what I see on my computer screen, and you’ll see me in a smaller picture-in-picture.
To be perfectly clear: you will be able to witness every moment of the actual creation of the novel, from working with software, to outlining and brainstorming, through writing the first draft.
With the added bonus of watching me run the gamut of various versions of my scrunched up and often befuddled Creator FaceTM.
Additionally, you can chat with other viewers during the live stream! I’ll chime in a bit here and there, too, but remember, I’m supposed to be writing!
What If You Miss a Live Stream?
Can’t make it to watch as it happens? My Patreon patrons who pledge $5.00 per month will have access to an archive of the Autumn Project (2018) live video sessions they can watch after the fact!
What’s the Novel About?
The book I’ll be writing is Light of the Outsider. It’s part of my Shaper’s World storyworld, a wholly original fantasy setting where three different hominid species struggle to coexist while arcane powers from Outside threaten everything.
In Light of the Outsider, a group of desperate people are thrown together to rescue an infant prince before ethnic, international, and magickal pressures can threaten the stability of the entire continent and millions of lives.
If George R. R. Martin and James Ellroy had a grubby back alley love child and lovingly fed him rusty typewriter keys and candy soot, that stunted sport might write something like Light of the Outsider.
I’m gonna do it instead.
Light of the Outsider is the first of six planned Shaper’s World novels… if this one gets done, and folks want more.
It’s a long time simmering, this book. It’s time to get cooking.
Do You Have To Be A Patron To Support The Autumn Project (2018)?
You don’t have to be a patron to support my efforts in the Autumn Project (2018).
You can subscribe to the podcast and get weekly, albeit edited, reports of my progress, and your comments and feedback will certainly be appreciated.
You can follow my progress in the broadest sense via progress bars on my site.
You can become a patron at the $1.00 per month pledge level and get the unedited episodes of Sonitotum, but you won’t get access to the real-time streaming video writing sessions.
Your $3.00 per month pledge gets you in… your $5.00 per month pledge gets you everything... but I welcome any and all support at any level. The most important thing to me is that you’re there with me, keeping me accountable.
If you want the full experience of total access so you can witness the birth of a novel in real time, you should…
Go All Access!
Help me keep my butt in the chair through the end of 2018.
Help make sure I get writing, and keep writing.
In return, you’ll get to see everything involved in planning, plotting, and writing a novel, from start to finish.
Become my patron for only $3.00 per month and you’ll get
- access to the live streaming video writing sessions
- uncut, unedited Autumn Project (2018) episodes of Sonitotum — and uncut versions of all other episodes as well!
- bonus content like worldbuilding materials, notes, and other material related to creating Light of the Outsider
- all the other perks of being a patron, including
- installments of my Sovereign Era serial Hazy Days and Cloudy Nights: “How It All Got Started”
- uncut past and future episodes of Sonitotum
- every digital product I release during your patronage
- …and more!!
If you’re already a patron but you’re not pledging at the $3.00 per month level, be sure to upgrade your pledge so you get access to the live streaming video feed!
Want to watch pre-recorded video streams? Upgrade to the $5.00 per month pledge level!
Here Comes a Novel!
I need you. Will you come along with me on the Autumn Project (2018)?
Thanks!