B.R. Black

Thriller and Horror writer

Tag: Serial Fiction

  • A Change of Seasons

    I think it’s shows real growth when you’re ready to say, I’m done.

    Since 2021, with the start of Kindle Vella, I’ve been haphazardly posting my horror serial, Wound, with the weird name and ensemble cast, I kind of fell in love with this bunch of rascals and tried to throw as much mayhem their way as I could think of.

    Over time it’s become apparent that my love has not been shared.

    Not necessarily because of a defect in my story, writing, or characters–though those things certainly exist–but because I was never consistent nor persistent enough to find traction on the platform and I allowed myself to go through waves of discouragement instead of putting my head down and plowing through.

    It didn’t help that every time I went to the main Vella page I always saw the same one or two stories sitting atop the #1 spot.

    I’ve already written about my issues with the platform, but I’m not suggesting that that’s the reason Wound never really found an audience. That lies mostly with me (I say mostly because no matter how much advertising or consistent posting I could muster, people’s choices are out of my hands). So, in the desire to move forward to other projects, I’m ending Wound at the end of Season three.

    I know, I know. I can sense your disappointment.

    I’m disappointed, too, but I have found that I don’t have the energy to sustain 25 additional episodes after this fall. Seventy five is a good number to go out on.

    Will there be more adventures for Paul, Carol, and Bev? Will Blake ever fully realize his power? Where’s Darlene? I’m prepared to answer (most) of those questions, if anyone’s asking.

    I reserve the right head back to Franklin, Wyoming at some further date, because we all know, the dead aren’t always dead.

    Stay tuned to hear about my next project(s) – a revamp of my other Kindle Vella series and a new thriller novella series.

  • The Long Game

    I’m more of a completionist than a loyalist and my time on the Kindle Vella platform reinforces that idea. I’ve not had a lot of traction there, since I don’t write spicy romance. Also, my vampires (aside from Paul) aren’t all that sexy and really could use a good killing, not kissing.

    So, while I believe there is a healthy horror library of stories on there, I don’t seem to be part of it. And that’s OKAY!

    I will still be publishing the last two seasons of Wound on Vella first.

    It’s about completing the task and while it’s not necessarily the best thing for me to be focusing on now (with all the other projects I’m juggling), it feels good to be with these characters and make their lives horrible.

    My goal is to end Season 4 right around Halloween this year. That will be the end of the story.

    I’ll take two months off (to work on other things) and then revise all four seasons into novellas and then releasing them with a bonus prequel – Season 0.

    Don’t ask me what happens there, it’s full of secrets.

    I’m not sure what to do with the “Extras” so far. When I get a hint of back story, or side story, that compels me, I’ll write a short piece and then put it aside.

    One of the stories is about Mrs. Collins separation from her husband. The other is a nice story about the twins. The Collins family intrigues me since it’s so different from my own.

    Anyway, I’ll let you know if any other tidbits come to mind. I’m writing this blog post while episode 6 cooks in the back of my brain oven.

    In the meantime, episode 5 is written and will be uploaded later today.

    You can also follow my writing progress on NaNoWriMo.

    *swish* (⊃｡•́‿•̀｡)⊃━⭑･ﾟﾟ･*:༅｡.｡༅:*ﾟ:*:✼✿

  • What in tarnation is going on?

    I’m working my way through the third season of Wound when something unexpected happened.

    I can’t tell you what it is because spoilers, but it threw me for a loop.

    I was sitting comfortably at a nice table with a view of the beautiful day outside. I’d done my chores and eased into Episode 4. This is a Paul chapter, and it’s been a while since I’ve written in his voice. It took me a while to get back into his head and I have to admit, I struggled.

    Part of me wonders (at least now, as I write this I wonder) if that struggle is what caused the unexpected. Did my brain say “Hey! You’re just not feeling this guy today. What if this and this happened?”

    Maybe, I’m not sure. I know that when I sat down to write, I didn’t think that was going to happen. Then it happened. What a world.

    I’m just as shocked as you are.

    Writing was a little slower than usual today. Normally I just sprint away at the keys and try not to back track for spelling mistakes. Part of the trick is to just look down at the keys as I type. I can touch type, but I get too wrapped up in how the words look on the page instead of writing the next word. Whether I look or not, there will be spelling mistakes, but I’m much faster if I watch the keyboard.

    Typing with my eyes closed works too, or looking, really, at anything else besides the screen. If I stop reading as I’m writing, the writing gets faster. Is this just me? Anyway…

    The writing wasn’t difficult today, but deliberate. It felt like I was spending time with each sentence, making sure it was right.

    I don’t know if it’s right. I’ll find out tomorrow when I edit and post the episode. But for now, let’s just say, Paul’s in a situation.

    *swish* (⊃｡•́‿•̀｡)⊃━⭑･ﾟﾟ･*:༅｡.｡༅:*ﾟ:*:✼✿

  • The struggle to write consistently

    Something I’ve talked about before is my issues with consistency. Mainly, I will have long stretches where I will distance myself from a story and then, whether pressure, guilt, or a newly ignited desire to finish the piece rises up in my gut, I come back to the keyboard and go, “where they heck was I now?”

    I’ve had this with each Season of Wound. What started out in 2021 as an experiment to see if I could consistently write and publish a horror serial on the at-then-new Kindle Vella platform quickly ended when I discovered, no, I cannot consistently write and publish a horror serial.

    Or anything at all.

    My whole life has been a push and pull between half-finished works and new ideas and, from the sheer amount of reading I’ve done about other writers’ processes, this isn’t’ unusual. When I was finally diagnosed with ADHD, this seemed to be a feature and not (necessarily) a personality flaw. So, in the year since my diagnosis and treatment, what have I learned?

    Not much? I still struggle with shiny object syndrome, object impermanence, and distraction. BUT I have realized that if I start – literally just start writing a sentence, the rest will come. It may be slow, sloggy, weird, and not quite what I want to say, but it does come.

    I also am starting to understand what my triggers are and doing better at avoided them (particular voices or sounds).

    My goal for the second half of this year is not a writing goal, but a working goal. I aim to strengthen whatever skills I need to work fully remote (my day job lends itself to this), to make the effort twice a day to start that sentence, and – most importantly – work on being able to come back to the page immediately after a distraction.

    I know what I’ve tried before, systems, apps, web sites, etc. But this time I’m going to try bull-headed determination. RAWR!

    Do you have a secret sauce to being consistent in anything? I’d love some advice!

    *swish* (⊃｡•́‿•̀｡)⊃━⭑･ﾟﾟ･*:༅｡.｡༅:*ﾟ:*:✼✿

    Banner by B.R. Black | Background image by Markus Spiske from Pixabay

  • Dear Kindle Vella: It’s not you, it’s me.

    One of the first decisions I made this year (aside from my “Late Start” post) was to remove myself from Kindle Vella and admit that it’s not the right platform for me. I enjoy writing serial fiction. I loved discovery writing with it and coming up with interesting cliffhangers in each episode. The problem is that to make the platform viable, I need to be a much more consistent writer. And more prolific.

    Perhaps I need to be a better writer, as well, with a better idea.

    When I first started, I was surprised by the bonuses Amazon handed out, and for a couple of months, it felt like I was really earning some money with my writing. But I still didn’t keep up with the pace and found that with each episode that went without comments or feedback, without a sense of people actually reading my story, the little bit of bonus money wasn’t enough to keep me writing. I may have dreams of supporting myself with my writing, but money has never been the motivator for me. 

    I’m like an old Chevy in the winter, hard to start, but put me at the top of a hill and I’ll keep going.

    So, my specific goals for January are: Getting the first Season of Wound revised and extended a bit to be published as the first novella in the series. Finishing up Art History and getting that ready to be published as well, because the sequel, Lacrossed Lovers is just itching to be written. Both of those titles will be released on Kindle Unlimited (at least at first). I’d like to finish up a couple of short stories and post here, and I need to hop into my new weekly flash fiction as well (I’m adding another tier just for that. Stay tuned!)

    I have no idea what I’m going to do with Just a Blue Moon Phase. I like some of the characters, but first-person present is not something I enjoy writing.

    In other words, I’m trying to align my practical goals with my year-long theme of “FINISHING!” I’m even writing this blog post nearly a week early! Go me!

    How do you take your big ideas and break them down into workable goals? I could use all the suggestions!

    *swish* (⊃｡•́‿•̀｡)⊃━⭑･ﾟﾟ･\*:༅｡.｡༅:\*ﾟ:\*:✼✿

  • Wound Season 2 Finished – phew

    I originally started writing Wound back in 2021 to try out the new Kindle Vella platform. I’d been posting some other stories (The Shape of Us and others) with other venues and enjoyed the process of writing an episodic story. While I’ve had some qualms about the Vella platform (no one knows about it, the top stories rarely change) the biggest issue has been my inconsistency with publishing. I’m the Togashi Yoshihiro of Vella authors. Though, without two beloved franchises and a large fan base. I’ve just got the intermittency down pat.

    But this week I wrote the last three episodes of Season 2 (ep. 48-50), and the last episode will be live on November 10th – this Friday. Boy, am I happy.

    The trouble was episode 47. There was a lot I already had written about Paul’s experience in the Town Hall, and some of the most important dialogue I’d already worked out, but I couldn’t’ see how I could move into nor out of that episode. It was as dark to me as it was to Paul, though he can see in the dark now, so whatever Paul, you jerk!

    Then I realized that I could use that to my advantage and, as Dean Wesley Smith says, just “write into the dark.” It didn’t matter what I wanted to happen, or how the next scene would start. I just needed to write the next sentence and let the characters figure it out.

    It worked–because of course it worked. It’s even worked for me before and it works every time I re-remember that this is what writing is about. Not plotting or scaffolding or snowflaking, at least not for me. Writing has to be fun and scary and unknown.

    I dove in and let Paul tell me what to write. I fought with him a bit here and there, mostly to get him angry, but then we went somewhere I didn’t expect, someplace not on my story GPS. It scared me. And because it scared me, it scared Paul. Good!*

    So, if you’d like to read Wound, all 50 episodes so far, I’d love to hear your comments. Season 3 is bubbling up in my head right now, but I’m not going to let it stew too long. I’m gonna jump right in and drown.

    *Don’t worry about Paul. He’s an ass, but I love him and will celebrate and torture him as much as possible.