Derek Robinson's Blog - Posts Tagged "scifi"
Writing My First Novel: Forever After
I remember the first book I ever tried to write. It was a story about a shipwreck and its survivors.
I was in third grade, so it didn’t get very far.
Then I remember the next attempt. It was called “The Bermudan Initiative,” and it was about a heist of gold from some secret lair in Bermuda. I was co-writing it with my friend Ben.
I was in high school, so it got a little further. But barely.
Writing a novel has been something I wanted to do since I was a child. Every time I hold a fresh new paperback in my hands at the bookstore, the only thing I can dream about is someday picking up my own original paperback off the shelf.
In 2021, I was in Vermont for the weekend at my friend Tommy’s cabin. It was a Friday night, and we were sitting at the fire pit overlooking a pitch-dark lakefront. You know the kinds of philosophical conversations you have around fire pits, right? When your peripheral vision just vanishes, and the only thing your brain needs to process are those wiggling orange flames? It leaves so much space for other activities in the brain, or at least that’s how it feels. Sitting around that fire, I hatched the premise of Forever After.
Almost four years and 95,000 words later, my story is complete. It wasn’t without its struggles, though. On three or four occasions during the writing of this book, my momentum completely stalled. With each hiatus, the effort to get the train back on the tracks became more and more difficult. First, it was re-reading a few chapters to remember what I had done. Then it was re-reading 30,000 words. Then 50,000 words. Each time I would lose my groove, and a few months would pass by, getting back into said groove was a real grind.
The hiatuses weren’t born from a lack of passion or interest in the story. They were born from major life events. In August 2022, I moved from my little Beacon Hill apartment into an Arlington condo with my now-wife, Kathryn. In April of ‘23, Kathryn and I became engaged. We bought our first house in July of the same year, and that rolled seamlessly into our exciting year of wedding planning. The efforts culminated with our wedding day in August of ‘24, the best day of my life. Sprinkled through it all, we were chipping away at a basement remodel that is finally almost done.
So, yeah. The writing process took a back seat on more than one occasion.
But as the calendar flipped to 2025, I dug in. I spent night after night focusing on getting my plot ironed out, getting my climax outlined, getting my characters built. And then I let the story flow.
If there’s a lesson I can share with prospective authors out there, it’s this: stop hyper-focusing on the result. Trust me, I know how tempting it is. You wouldn’t believe how much time I spent during those first two years waffling on fonts and trim sizes, mocking up book covers, researching self-publishing steps. It took until the third year, but I finally recognized that all of those things are meaningless without a story. Without a finished manuscript.
As soon as you stop worrying about the result, and as soon as you let yourself fall into the world of your story, you’ll unlock the pathway to finishing it.
I guess this post hasn't shed much light on Forever After itself, but you can read all about that story on my website: derekrobinsonbooks.com.
Thanks for listening, and I can't wait for the full launch day—August 26th, 2025, when both digital and paperback copies will be available. (And the audiobook, if all goes to plan!)
Oh, and be sure to add Forever After to your "want to read" list, if you wish!
-Derek
I was in third grade, so it didn’t get very far.
Then I remember the next attempt. It was called “The Bermudan Initiative,” and it was about a heist of gold from some secret lair in Bermuda. I was co-writing it with my friend Ben.
I was in high school, so it got a little further. But barely.
Writing a novel has been something I wanted to do since I was a child. Every time I hold a fresh new paperback in my hands at the bookstore, the only thing I can dream about is someday picking up my own original paperback off the shelf.
In 2021, I was in Vermont for the weekend at my friend Tommy’s cabin. It was a Friday night, and we were sitting at the fire pit overlooking a pitch-dark lakefront. You know the kinds of philosophical conversations you have around fire pits, right? When your peripheral vision just vanishes, and the only thing your brain needs to process are those wiggling orange flames? It leaves so much space for other activities in the brain, or at least that’s how it feels. Sitting around that fire, I hatched the premise of Forever After.
Almost four years and 95,000 words later, my story is complete. It wasn’t without its struggles, though. On three or four occasions during the writing of this book, my momentum completely stalled. With each hiatus, the effort to get the train back on the tracks became more and more difficult. First, it was re-reading a few chapters to remember what I had done. Then it was re-reading 30,000 words. Then 50,000 words. Each time I would lose my groove, and a few months would pass by, getting back into said groove was a real grind.
The hiatuses weren’t born from a lack of passion or interest in the story. They were born from major life events. In August 2022, I moved from my little Beacon Hill apartment into an Arlington condo with my now-wife, Kathryn. In April of ‘23, Kathryn and I became engaged. We bought our first house in July of the same year, and that rolled seamlessly into our exciting year of wedding planning. The efforts culminated with our wedding day in August of ‘24, the best day of my life. Sprinkled through it all, we were chipping away at a basement remodel that is finally almost done.
So, yeah. The writing process took a back seat on more than one occasion.
But as the calendar flipped to 2025, I dug in. I spent night after night focusing on getting my plot ironed out, getting my climax outlined, getting my characters built. And then I let the story flow.
If there’s a lesson I can share with prospective authors out there, it’s this: stop hyper-focusing on the result. Trust me, I know how tempting it is. You wouldn’t believe how much time I spent during those first two years waffling on fonts and trim sizes, mocking up book covers, researching self-publishing steps. It took until the third year, but I finally recognized that all of those things are meaningless without a story. Without a finished manuscript.
As soon as you stop worrying about the result, and as soon as you let yourself fall into the world of your story, you’ll unlock the pathway to finishing it.
I guess this post hasn't shed much light on Forever After itself, but you can read all about that story on my website: derekrobinsonbooks.com.
Thanks for listening, and I can't wait for the full launch day—August 26th, 2025, when both digital and paperback copies will be available. (And the audiobook, if all goes to plan!)
Oh, and be sure to add Forever After to your "want to read" list, if you wish!
-Derek