I am now settling into the task of reassembling my novel (Leaving Home), putting all the chapters together, and editing as I go. This is necessary because I have been learning throughout the journey of writing this story. As I usually say, you need a new degree for each part of this process. I write because I love writing – I am a storyteller in my bones. So many mistakes, some large, many small, but I knew I was learning along the way. I don’t regret any of it.

As I proceed, I am both heartened and heartbroken. The industry is crumbling. Publishers have been going out steadily, especially in the last 30 years or more. It isn’t easy to obtain figures; most of what I find in my research is the number of book sales, and even that is only partially accurate. Most of the statistics pertain to book sales, not used book store sales or library lending.

People are not said to be reading as much, especially men. Probably they are going to the used book stores and libraries-amazing what you see when you don’t look at all the sources of data. Movies are not being attended in theaters. Streaming services are experiencing issues with subscriptions and reputation, especially now that the captive audience from COVID is back out in the world.

Therefore, reading has not decreased; it has shifted to other sources. The ‘industry’ has narrowed its scope of who it lets in the door. The concept of gatekeeping has been put on its ear. Prejudice, as you know, is always present in society, just in a different form. However, when you exclude all but your chosen few, and they are not experienced or skilled at writing (or don’t care about writing, just about the message), it results in empty tales.

Hence, another reason I want to write. What is being pushed out is not interesting to me. I read the older stuff, what I call Old-fashioned Science Fiction.

So, here I am at this next phase. I don’t even know what to call it, except for assembling the final product. And, gosh, I have to learn something else. First, I looked at the novel writing programs. The choice is free (of course, with its pros and cons) or a premium option with a monthly subscription. I might gripe about the monthly stuff, but I imagine it is the way the companies make money, and I understand that. The other part, the negative side, is the offer of getting help with your writing, such as editors, illustrators, and more. Not necessarily negative, but annoying.

Well, I settled on Reedsy and started. The first thing was setting up the backstage stuff-Notes and Character Sketches. I understood that right away. Having that information readily available as you write is beneficial. I had charts, which got very long. The first thing that happened, though, was that I lost all of it. Reedsy says it stores everything in the cloud, so you don’t need to worry. Well, I worry.

Next, I had to think carefully about what I wanted to include in the Character Sketches (these are written, not illustrated). The key, for me, is a ‘facts only’ type of list for a quick refresh in an easily accessible section. When I finally worked that out after several attempts, I realized that was the big thing with these programs for me.

The downside is that everything is in the cloud, and I’m unsure about the security status regarding theft in this concept, not to mention the risk of loss of each Note and Sketch.

I have heard rumours in the past. A magazine called Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (which was once a prominent organization, although its current status is unknown to me) features a section on companies known for stealing ideas and stories. It did happen, though you will be told it’s not that much. Regardless, people are people, and there will always be some who are like this.

I am filling out the Character Sketches and Notes and plan to keep them near me as I progress through each chapter. I will have to get it up to date because I know I don’t remember everything, and probably left something out or messed up the consistency. I’m not upset about that; I am in good company.

Next, edit the 1st chapter and so on, deciding if some can be joined or split up. That previous sentence could mean months. Yep, months. Hopefully, it will go faster as I go along, learning and all.

Well, that’s it. I just wanted to let you know what I am doing. I will try to keep up the Blogs and Quotes now and possibly the Stories.

Thank you for your time.

© JM Strasser October 2025 All Rights Reserved