FRIENDO Y COMIENDO - COUNTDOWN TO A SERIALIZED YA NOVEL
SEE YOU THIS WEEKEND
As I mentioned in a previous post, I was contemplating writing and sharing a YA novel here, hitching on to the demand-rhythms of substack in hopes that it might jump-start my no-writing self.
The positive reaction from you all has helped. Over this last week I’ve written ten single-spaced pages, the opening section, and I’m not going to wait to buffer more or spend a ton of time rewriting — for fear that I’ll just stop.
Long story short: prepare for incoming. First slice of the YA novel drops this weekend.
Because I write slow as fuck, I plan on posting a few pages of the fiction once a week — and will continue to dedicate my other weekly post to my usual storytelling obsessions. If for some extraordinary reason I write more prolifically I’ll post additional pages in the weekly fiction post, but I’m not counting on this and you probably shouldn’t, either.
Because I’m sharing this novel friendo y comiendo style — posting as I’m writing — there’s likely to be mistakes and infelicities, maybe even some serious dead ends. On the one hand those of you reading this wildness will have to be patient. On the other hand the process of me picking my way through a narrative maze might be helpful to some folks.
Either way, one hopes the reading will be, on some level, enjoyable.
Please be warned: right now these starter pages are YA-adjacent but I might age the story up as we go along. Hopefully my ambition to write a book that might attract boy readers who aren’t currently readers will survive any shifts.
Whatever happens, I’m trying to keep my ambitions small. My plan is to write and post the first “act” of the novel, anywhere from 75 to 100 pages. If there’s enough interest from me and you for a second act…but again, let me not get ahead of myself.
Please be warned Part II: the novel will start on the free side, but eventually, if it gets going, it will become a Paid Subscribers exclusive.
Anyway, enough talk: see some of you this weekend.
I don't need to tell you how excited I am, beyooond. x
I'm so happy you jumped in. Posting as you write is for the readers like standing behind a window watching people in a lab working, restoring an old masters painting or cleaning dinosaur bones. See it as it happens. It's courageous of you, and a benefit to all who read, to see a work in progrsss.
Would you believe this morning I felt like the weight of the world was pressing down on me and then I began playing with a sentence and as I wrote and moved words around, my happiness increased.