For those of you who know, I’m an amateur writer. As amateur as they come. I’ve actually made one attempt to sell my works and met with rejection, and considering the fact that what I write is merely my means of expression, when I did meet with rejection, I took a look at what I was holding in my hand (my chapters and outline) and I made a decision: If I was going to claim this as my art and my labor of love, then how could I possibly have a want to make money off of it? The decision right then and there was that I would simply write for myself, and publish it for all to read on the web. My writings have included a great many subjects, though all of them are based in the realm of science-fiction. I’ve tried to write a contemporary story, but I always feel like it turns out way too sappy and hopelessly pedantic. They say you should write what you know, and well, I know science-fiction a hell of a lot better than trying to describe the human condition as it is presently.
Recently, however, I finished a novella called The (Mis)Adventures of January McKenna. It’s based in whole upon the supposition in the Star Trek universe, about the “What if the Borg failed to be stopped by the Enterprise-D at Sector 001?” We ended up basing an entire role-playing game within this universe, and of course, as I always get to thinking about all the possibilities, I wrote this novella to explain the first two-three years of that struggle in the aftermath of the Borg invasion. It seems to have been pretty well received, though I only got one review. The first three chapters were written in September of 2000, and then I stopped. Of course, I was separating from Stephanie in October, so I’m sure it’s not hard to figure out why I stopped writing. I picked it up again this month and finally sat myself down long enough to just bang it all out and finish the story. The result is located over my FanFiction.net site, and begins here, if you care to jump up and read a ten-chapter saga.
I have not actually been able to finish a story like that in a very long time. I tend to start projects, get really into it, and then lose my discipline and eventually any interest in continuing the story. Since I did finish this and end it with a nice decisive ending, I’m feeling a little more confident about my writing to revisit older and unfinished projects that I let go in a similar fashion. However, out of all of those, I’m not really finding one I want to devote such a high level of concentration to (yet). I am hoping that I will latch onto something after I’m done moving, because I would love to finish a novel (not a novella) before next April.
