A New Story, You Say?

I've set it aside. I think because I've told a million other people this at I just assumed that I'd said it on here too.

I set aside Into The Woods.

WHAT! You might be saying. BUT YOU HAD SUCH BIG PLANS!!! You were going to edit it and have some betas read through it and then give it to a developmental editor to look though.

And I'm still going to do all that, I promise.

But I need some space.

AND WHY, ON GOD'S GREEN EARTH, WOULD YOU NEED SPACE FROM ONE OF YOUR FAVORITE NOVELS?!?!?!?!?

That...is a question I have asked myself multiple times.

The truth is setting it aside doesn't mean I'm never coming back to it. It means that I just needed to get it off my mind. I needed to work on something else.

The reason for this is because that story has some major plot holes and questions that need to be answered. And because I want it to be good enough to send to a developmental editor, because I don't want to shove it back on the shelf as a test novel, I am going to fix those things.

But you can only brainstorm one thing for so long before all your 'new ideas' become the same as your upsetting old ones.

I was brainstorming in circles. And that needed to stop.

Another reason was that I would look at my Into The Woods folder and groan. 'Oh, here I go again, spending an hour of my precious time staring at a screen, doing nothing.' I found the time I spent on that project...wasted. So I moved on. I said 'you know what, I'm going to do a thing I've never done before' and I'm going to take a break.

Breaks like this are foreign to me. I know a number of writers and professional authors who write novels and then set them aside for a number of months (someone even said they set their novel to the side and don't look at it for a whole 3 months) before they go back and do the first round of edits.

I myself had to do the first round of edits to realize that this story needed some help.

The beginning scene wasn't working. I didn't build tension right. The climax came out of nowhere.

WHERE IS CARTER GOING TO GET THE MOTIVATION TO KIDNAP A GIRL!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!???!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Things like that.

So I put it on the shelf. April 25th, 2025.

And I chose something different.

This project was meant to be a short story. Then I got some advice from people saying that short stories usually have only one to three characters. And...well...this story is going to be a full 7-Act plot with a climax worthy of getting readers to jump off their seats in anticipation. It's not going to be a novel, but it's not going to be short either.

Here is the rundown of things you need to know about my new story:

• The title...may be working. But for now, I have Project Pure-Blood. And I really like that.

• The genres are a mix of cyberpunk, science-fiction, and dystopian.

• There is a Great Prophecy.

• It is set on Earth, but after a major cataclysmic event known as The Breakage (and no, you get no further information *evil author laugh*)

• The main character is female.

• There is no romance (did you hear that!? I'm so proud of myself)

• I am plotting this novel, so there will--probably *clears throat*--be fewer edits needed.

• I will eventually share it with you. Whether it's my subscribers, or my entire blog, I think you guys should read it. I want it to be one of the best stories I have ever written.

• There are rebels

• And a corrupt government

And I have to stop myself now before I totally go off the rails and just write the story here for you. I am working on a synopsis currently, but you'll have to wait a little longer for that.... I believe the first draft will be complete in...about three weeks. Maybe two. And after that, it should be a very short time before it's out for you guys to read (unless I totally mess up the entire plot and character archs and everything has to be rewritten. Yay!).

I have updated my Projects space, and the Into The Woods tab. The 'click here' button for my new project will take you nowhere, I have yet to build a page for that story. But I will soon! And I can't wait for when you all can get an inside glimpse at my story.

Thank you all for reading!

The End