When I last wrote here about my new story idea, it was mainly just a concept. Now, I’ve written a whopping two scenes! Yes, two! At this stage it could have been more, but the awful heat we’re experiencing in Ireland right now does not a productive writing environment make. So much for making loads of progress in July.
What I lost in weeks of writing opportunities, I made up for today as I finished the second scene. The novice in me is excited to tell a story, but the learner in me is reminding writer me not to rush. Still, I think I managed to fit in some exposition in a natural and believable way.
The main character’s name is Jack. He’s dealing with an unfamiliar situation and the people around him are trying to bring him up to speed without overwhelming him. It’s exciting to write, because I have to think like a psychologist (which I’m not), a historian (also not), and a medical doctor (definitely not). This all means that I stay in my lane mostly, while giving the reader enough explanation to understand that these people are experts in their fields. It’s tricky, but doable.
I’m exactly 1,108 words into a story which, hopefully, will grow into something up to eighty or ninety times that length. It’s very early days, but if I can get even 500 words written each day, I’ll have something solid before the year ends.
Where does that leave my other projects? I honestly don’t know. Right now, I’m in “When Sunday Ended” mode. That’s what I feel like writing. When I feel like returning to “Lessons in Absence”, I absolutely will. I won’t bury it, it’s a decent idea (at least I think so) and it deserves to be worked on. What I lack as a writer starting out is pressure from a publisher. I have no deadlines, only the ones I set myself, which I have cleverly (?) not set myself. One day, I may be fortunate enough to have a publisher telling me when to have my next 30,000 words in, but today is not that day. Right now, the process interests me more than the product.
Darragh Ó Bradáin 
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