It’s a brand new year. A completely arbitrary demarcation that we as a species, at least in the west, have all agreed upon. Does it have any real significance, other than what we attribute to it? Who can say? Even if it doesn’t, I find myself looking back at what I accomplished in 2022.
I did begin and finish a longish, novella, Da Great Goblin Rebellion. I call it a longish novella as it’s over the 40K word count of a novella and too short for a novel that has at least 80K.
Writing this was more or less of an accident. The first chapter was an observation about one of the odd conventions of the tabletop RPG, Dungeons and Dragons. You might have heard of it. In D&D, monsters guard treasure that if they used it, would make the fight a lot more challenging. Imagine duking it out with someone and then finding out they had a laser gun in their bag. Why not use that? If you want to know more, the link is on the main page.
I intended it to be just a short story, one and done. However, I kept writing and adding more and more characters and expanding the world until it was 46 chapters long. I think you might call it a win. Some writers struggle to put anything down. The thing you write is better than the thing you don’t.
On the very tangential subject of external validation, I had a little bit of that but more of the opposite. I submitted to a number of competitions. I made it to the second round in one of them, but that was as far as I got.
However, I did achieve a bit of success. I had a play I wrote performed in the GI60 sixty-second play festival in Leeds UK. I wish I had a link to share, but they haven’t put it up yet OR it doesn’t exist. Not sure which. But it was a bit of love from people I don’t know. Mmmmm… Strange affection.
Even though I failed yet again to achieve any far-reaching fame (again), I am proud that continued to post here every Monday without fail and posted two haiku each day on Twitter. Again, not every writer does that. Some do much more, but they’re maybe in the minority.
Returning to the New Year thing, what are my goals in 2023?
Last year I spent most of it writing a long piece. Which was fun and I enjoyed it but it meant I needed to stick with it till it was done. Or that was the least I how felt. I suppose it worked out since it’s done.
This year I want to concentrate on short stories and maybe some essays. Does this excite you? I hope so, or at least not repel you. I may work on a longer piece, but I won’t share it, at least right away.
I’m also going to try to make myself a better writer. Which may be experimental. What does that mean? I’ll figure it out as I go, which is all any one of us can do.
Is this just a way of avoiding actually writing? What is actual writing? Discuss amongst yourselves.
Finally, thank you, my devoted readers, for coming back every Monday. And if you like what I’m up to, let me know. External validation is fleeting but oh so sweet.
-Leo Byrne Jenicek
January 9th, 2023
The Writings of Leo Byrne Jenicek 