2023 End of the Year Writing Update... in January 2024.

2023. A roller coaster year with happenings like tech industry layoffs, Barbenheimer, and war between Israel and Gaza.

For fingers rattling on my keyboard, 2023 was a good one. A couple of neat milestones happened as well as percolating new ideas. I am taking this last blog for 2023 to share those across-the-board updates on my projects. So a warning: this will be a lengthy read.

• Just as Human Draft 1 - Developmental Editing.

I read the draft in the spring. After a while of drenching chapters with digital highlighters, I knew that I needed a developmental editor. Between pages that have potential, many places made me cringe, haha. A lot of it details that I don't know how to improve on. Moreover, world and character development I need to flesh out. So, I began looking at online marketplaces.

I thought finding a good fit would take me months – sending message after message on Fiverr, Reedsy, or my online writing community. Perhaps reach out to local small publishers knowing they cost quite a bit more. The more you can pay, normally, the better the quality job. Alas, I'm on a small budget for this.

It was not that long of a search after all. In the late fall, I found someone on Fiverr. She showed interest and I gave her the draft after a sample edit. We talked about the stories' goals and what her editing package consists of. In a few weeks, I'll have a draft chock full of recommendations. Next is lots of editing, which I am genuinely looking forward to.

• Once Upon a Time Game Jam – Fall 2023.

In the summer I was itching to make another small videogame with a team. My previous experience doing so was short-lived. Where were those developers, then? Other than on Discord, they can be found on itch.io. No pun intended… for those that caught it.

What is itch.io? And what is a game jam? itch.io is a popular website for finding game developers to make short games with. You find like-minded independent developers to make them within a given time - a game jam. Lo and behold I came across one focused on narrative; many are just gameplay-focused. The catch was, um, fairy tales.

Yeah.

Writing a fairy tale visual novel. Not a style of game I have played much of. You click through them or press your space bar. I like fantasy stories and there are fairy tales with fantasy elements. So, I thought sure, I will take a wack at it.

I formed a small team of coders, artists, and myself. We brainstormed for a couple of weeks. We then arrived at an original story concept. Progress was coming slower than we anticipated due to real life. Three months later we stuck the landing: a short game story playable from start to finish. It actually worked. I wrote it with support from two co-writers, who also coded and made sweet environment art. All in all, that was a neat learning experience. Later, I want to find another jam. Not another fairy tale one.

I cannot find one of the best pieces of environmental art on my PC for some reason. Strange. It is in the below link, though.

Give it a try: https://matthew-birdzell.itch.io/pact-and-promise-the-arcane-door . Download the ZIP file at the bottom of the descriptions, extract the files, and open the .exe file. It should play without you needing a different program to run it.

A variety of art samples from Gidz, who also helped with writing: https://www.deviantart.com/thegreeinator

• NaNoRiMo 2024: National Novel Writing Month (In November).

It's always intimidated me. Writing 50K words in 30 days is, yeah... a large amount. That's more than enough to give you carpal tunnel. I am usually working on another story. Each winter I see updates on Discord or from my online writing buddies on LegendFire. Sort of makes me feel left out. It's my own fault; I have yet to participate.

For 2024, I will. I have enough experience doing this stuff that it should be enough to dive in. It will be time for a fresh challenge! As enjoyable as writing Just as Human has been, I am motivated to start a new project. So, for NaNoRiMo 2024, I'll write a new novel. Just need to have it outlined.

How many words is that a day? 1,667 or more. Yep, it's a lot; my record is just past 2,000; my wrist muscles felt very twisted up. Did not take good stretch breaks.

One idea is to go with a fantasy concept and write the first book. One of a series. Another is starting a fresh science fiction series. I don't want to give away ideas, so I am stopping there. But that brings me to the last part of this update…

• Next Books?

Just two new ideas. An image of large piping one can walk on outside of a building - science fiction. The other is the above fantasy series. How does a magic-based multiplayer tournament sound? It has a video game-y ring. The writing will need to be literary.

In Summary

This year didn't seem like a lot happened. I've spent more time working and sending out resumes than writing. A majority of the writing was on small projects. Back in the summer, I wrote dialogue barks and item descriptions in Excel sheets - examples of writing you find in videogames.

These:

multiplayer-dialogue-barks-sheet1Download

videogame-item-descriptions-sheet1Download

With 2023 behind us, my 2024 goals are as of now:

• Edit Just as Human Draft 1 and give it a more fitting title. I want to get Ellexis's story polished, then find beta readers and send query letters.

• Write a new book for NaNoRiMo 2024.

• Perhaps write a short story - another videogame or a prose story of something.

As the year progresses, I want to try keeping to these as closely as possible.

And that wraps up 2023. If you have enjoyed these occasional Writing Updates on Facebook or from this website, Google's algorithm appreciates you. And I do, too. Happy New Year!