30 Short Stories in 30 Days
I am currently around 40,000 words into my debut novel.
Some might say that’s a great start, and that I’m well on my way to getting my unique story out into the world.
There is only one problem: I haven’t added a word to the novel since April 2018. Uh oh.
Once upon a time…
My journey began in the summer of 2017. I decided it was time to finally write the novel that had been bouncing around in my head for the past 7 years.
The premise of the story is simple:
“After years of research Jeremy, an AI scientist, manages to upload his mind to a computer, then suddenly vanishes. The computer, going by the nickname Jay, tries to figure out what happened to his original human.”
Throw in a team of four mercenaries, an unnamed number of clones, the most badass female special agent of all time, one murder, several tubs of rose and lychee icecream (unrelated to the murder! or is it?), and you have a hilarious adventure and good time.
I’m not going to lie, the book is a page turner. My girlfriend Celia has ADD, and is my main proofreader. As such, every time she got bored or found a section too long, I ruthlessly chopped it out to ensure I kept her attention.
All was well, and the book plodded along at a steady pace, until a new adventure crept into our lives.
In November 2017, Celia got pregnant.
What followed was 6 months of stress and sadness as she went through two miscarriages back-to-back.
I’ll spare you the details. Suffice to say that although I was physically unaffected by the trials we endured together, I was mentally exhausted. I suddenly stopped writing in April 2018, around the time of her second miscarriage.
To be precise, I stopped writing on April 17th, 2018, at 1:27pm. The novel had 38,461 words in it.
The Struggle
Two years and many adventures later, here we are.
2018 ended up being a good year. Celia got pregnant for the third time, and we applied to the city for a permit to renovate our rundown solarium.
2019 was an even better year. Our precocious and remarkable daughter Maddy was born in March, and she was totally worth the wait. Our renovation was long, convoluted, and gave us the best home our family could ever hope to have.
Which brings me to the present. May 2020. My business has slowed to a crawl. Covid-19 runs rampant. The world has been locked down (and is just beginning to kind of sort of we’re not sure but we think we’re reopening… MAYBE) My child is doing great. Our home renovation is finally done.
I feel like for the first time in two years, I’m able to breathe contentedly and relax.
And somewhere in between breaths, my two-year-old novel calls out to me to finish it.
It’s always been a dream of mine to write stories, and to write them well.
For years I wrote from the heart, and posted my thoughts on this blog. As my readers’ interest in dating advice increased, so too did my posts become more targeted towards that subject.
Somewhere along the way, I stopped writing about things that mattered to me.
Please don’t misunderstand, I’m glad I was able to help so many men (and some women) with my dating advice. It’s just that I’m not single anymore, I’m not dating anymore, and I have no desire to date ever again.
I’ve also compiled much of my dating advice into an exceptional FREE dating course.
If you follow it through to the end, you will gain access to my paid course as well, which I keep up-to-date and in tip top shape for men who want to be more confident, find love, and get the woman of their dreams. My clients’ success rate is 100% with it, and I’m really proud of it.
But for day-to-day writing, churning out words on this blog and for myself, I’d like to write about things that are relevant to me once more.
And I’d like you to be a part of it.
Practice Makes Perfect
I’ve always said that writing is like a muscle.
If you don’t work it out regularly, the writing muscle weakens and shrinks. If you don’t write for a long period of time, the writing muscle atrophies and potentially dies.
I haven’t written anything creative in over two years. My writing muscle is a shadow of its former self.
This blog post, just over 1200 words long, took me nearly three hours to compose and edit. I know for a fact that five years ago, I could’ve written it up in less than thirty minutes.
I picked up my novel this weekend, read through my previous prose, and placed notes in the margins. Then I tried to write the next part and… the words fell flat.
It’s not writer’s block.
I know what happens next in the story (of the novel, not my life story, that one is still a mystery). My girlfriend, my sister, and my smattering of loyal test readers have been pestering me for details. I remain tight-lipped: I don’t like spoilers.
In fact, not only do I know what happens next, I also know the major plot points, the solution to Jeremy’s mysterious disappearance, the ending of the novel, and the structure of its sequel(s).
Yet when I write, the words are wrong. It would seem I have to rework my writing muscle before tackling the heavy weights again. And by heavy weights, I mean the novel (duh).
So.
I’m launching a new project to get my mind and typing fingers back in shape.
Get To The Point Already
Here are the two challenges I’m currently facing.
First, I’m too rusty to continue writing my novel right away. I need to get my groove back. I need to practice a lot, and do it quickly.
Second, in order to get my novel published once it’s finished, I need to have an author’s platform to show agents. That includes page views, community, and social media following.
In fact, several agents I reached out to in 2015 to publish my dating guide told me I needed a minimum of 50,000 followers on Twitter and Facebook.
Well, I’m at 1,000. Only 49,000 more to go.
Thus I’ve decided to solve both challenges by doing one thing.
I’m going to write and publish short stories.
1 per day.
For 30 days.
I will give them away for free on this blog to entertain you all during this pandemic time.
By writing and publishing a story every day, I’ll get my old skills back, and in 30 days will be ready to spar with my old friend the novel once more.
Additionally I’ll build up some trust with all of you gentle folk that read my posts and stories, and hopefully turn you into fans of my non-dating work.
Now, this is the hard part where you come in, dear reader.
If you like my short stories, dating advice, or any of the work I put out, you would be doing me an immense kindness if you:
- Follow me on Facebook.
- Follow me @gutsygeek on Twitter.
- Constantly share the stories I write with everyone you know until they’re sick of you and tell you to stop sharing your cultish obsession with Rami’s exceptional writing.
- Follow me on Facebook. In case you missed it the first time.
If at the end of this adventure I end up with a few hundred followers and fans I didn’t have before, I’ll consider it a huge success, and one giant step towards getting my novel published.
That’s a wrap for today.
Tune in tomorrow for the first story!