March 2021

February was fun, huh? I started a new job, so that took up a lot of my time and whatnot, but other than that, we march on. Get it? 'Cause it's March now. I dunno. That was funny enough to me. Anyway.

Writing

I've been writing a new novel called Westwatch set six years into a post-apocalyptic world. It follows a group of people from a settlement that are generally trying to keep the settlement safe. It's not an award-winning story, I'll tell you, but it's something kinda easy and fun to write, and at the end of the day, isn't that what writing is supposed to be?

The Blog

I'm busier than ever with ideas! I'm working on etymology posts all over the place (which is why I haven't gotten any posted yet, oops). I have a bunch of ideas for research-y type pieces and opinion pieces and general ramblings that I've been planning and working on as well. As I mentioned, with the new job, finding a balance is once again an issue amongst my other non-work, non-writing engagements.

Reading

I haven't posted one of these portions to the updates yet, but I figured why not. Currently, I'm reading two things. One for learning and one for fun. The one for fun is my friend's story called Death and the Toymaker that's out on Wattpad. The author is Allison Krebel and she's really talented, like insanely. If you'd like macabre fantasy, then this story is for you. The second book I'm working through as of right now is Cognitive Neuroscience: A Very Short Introduction by Richard Passingham. A surprisingly informative little book from the Oxford Very Short Introduction series.

Editing

Yes, still doing this too! Still only 10% the way through edits on Little Midnight so far because I have not been editing at all in the last month.

A New Idea?

If you're around on the blog, I'm sure you notice that I post some non-writing pieces about other things that just, I dunno, interest me or whatever. Social theories, as one of my friends likes to say, but regardless, my idea is that I'm going to start to compile these blog posts into a physical publication every two or three years and then take the blog post framework and add more into it, revisit the ideas, and really flesh them out even more, turning 1000-word posts into 2500-word essays and thought pieces available for purchase for only those most diehard fans (if you're out there, hello).

That's really it this month. I've been working on a few series planning outlines too, but those are so far out it feels moot to even mention. Still coming this year at some point: The Ones Who Went and Never Came Back, Little Midnight, and The Ones We Lost to the Liminal Spaces. And even some poetry stuff.

————————————————————

Word Goal: 10,000 words.

Writing Total from February: 16,363 words.

Next Month's Word Goal: 10,000 words.

————————————————————

See you next time.

Have a good wander, friend.

— d.i.richardson