On writing a novel, in public

Writing, like other forms of artistic creation, is lonely. The writer takes a dip and then stews in words, characters, arcs, scenes, and emotions till the last period is emphatically placed on the page. Only then does the writer feel confident enough to offer the work up for reviews and criticism. Beta readers, development editors, copy editors, and proof readers then have a go. The best ones soak in the book, just like you did. The final work, after many months, is ready for the public.

Writing, even when you have the best team on your side, is lonely. It becomes less so when the work reaches people and their opinion, good or bad, reaches you. Creators live for that. We are not sportspeople, where admiration (or disappointment) from the outside world is immediate and tangible. But, we're okay with that one line review on Amazon or Goodreads or Twitter.

Validation, it's the currency of creators.

What if the writer becomes a builder? Crafting the story in public, seeking validation or rejection every step of the way. Collaborating, co-creating with the reader.

What if there are no readers, without the benefit of the brilliant editors and publishers and marketers on your team? That is a real risk, a true test of merit for a creator.

That's not the only risk. A novel takes shape over many months of writing, rewriting. You wake up, breathless, to hold on to that disappearing figment of a fortuitous dream that can neatly tie many loose ends that months of conscious thinking could never satisfactorily resolve.

The role of serendipity and the inherent chaos of being, doing, creating, dreaming, shaping cannot be overstated.

Writing in public means the writer is deprived of many of his tools.

You can no longer rewrite Chapter 2 because Bob from Chapter 17 remembers an incident with Maude, which you'd never mentioned. Your development editor will point out flat characters and unclear motivations. The story will be tighter without Maude, they say. And, so you rewrite Chapters 2, 5 - 7, 9, 14 and 17.

The proof reader will point out 843 typos and that you need to decide if you're gonna call the character Maud or Maude, but it doesn't matter because Maud is out anyway. No Maudes in this story!

That is what I want to open myself to.

Write a novel, in full public view, without the insurance of others' expertise, in blocks and chapters.

Public opinion will be the judge, jury, and executioner of this story.

Here are the disclaimers:

• The quality of the individual chapters will likely vary, from sparkle to shite, without the benefit of professionals editing and finishing a fully written novel.
• The drops will be random, mimicking the writing process itself.
• The work will remain Anon.

Here is my manifesto:

• I'll write the novel and publish via Web 3, one chapter at a time.
• I'll include you, the reader, in the creation process as much as the story itself allows it.
• I promise to learn and utilize the unique dynamics of web 3-led community building as we go along.

I would like to thank certain people (you know who you are) for introducing me to Web 3 and forcing me to confront the nature and promise of this beast. In doing so, I have come to acknowledge the vision and effort of hundreds of people building the protocols and platforms that have led to this explosion of creativity under a radically open model of patronage.

As I open my creative process up to you, I hope you open your mind to the creator's dual afflictions of precarity and intensity, serendipity and chaos.

I don't intend to give anything away about the work itself, except the image has some clues. You should wait for Chapter 1. It will be along soon enough.

Let's embrace serendipity and the chaos.

Image courtesy: Stability AI, Stephen Young (Prompt Parrot), generated via huggingface.co (this was old-dog-learning-new-tricks fun!)

Collect this article if you want to be part of the journey. I will include collectors of this manifesto in airdrops and raffles for the first chapter.

Update to article

I will update this article with progress. This article will be meta to the novel itself (why not?).

October 13: Three chapters are now written. Are they ready for this immutable medium? Am I ready? are the questions I ask myself. I will persuade myself to click mint. When?

To the intrepid souls who have already collected this article from anon, thank you!

I will airdrop the first chapter to everyone who collects this article.

Follow me on twitter @lankybile for infrequent updates and disjointed musings.

October 24: I have a definite date for minting Chapter 1 - October 26, 2022.

Till then, here is a sneak peek:

Note that I will airdrop the first chapter to everyone who collects this article.

Follow me on twitter @lankybile for updates.

October 31: Minted Chapter 1. Book still untitled.

https://www.fxhash.xyz/article/untitled-book%3A-chapter-1

Chapter 2 soon. Maybe on objkt!

November 14: Thinking about minting Chapter 1 as a PDF on Objkt.

Chapter 2 is ready to mint also. Soon!

December 6: Published Chapter 1 on Objkt. Airdropped to existing collectors. You can get it here.

Stay tuned for Chapter 2.

January 11: Published Chapter 2 on Objkt.

You can collect it here.

Read and tweet your feedback. I am at @lankybile.