February 2024 Writing Update

This month has been a month of transformation. I have made decisions that I still feel a bit nervous about - decisions about my writing career and what I'd like to do, once and for all.

There's actually a lot to get through in this month's update, so here's a little list of sections to help guide you:

Becoming a full-time fiction author
Muslim representation in my fiction
Developmental editing services
This Week's Writing Lesson
Social Media Decisions
Murder in Heliopolis editing update
+ A note on organization and breaking down the novel editing process

1. Becoming a full-time fiction author

It's scary to say, "I'm going to be a full-time, professional author!" and throw yourself into a career where you'll spend months - perhaps years - without earning any money as you write and edit and prepare books. It's a scary thing to decide that that's what you want to do, and that you're going to give it your full attention and effort.

But that's the general gist of what I decided this month. I'm taking the leap to becoming a full-time fiction author. I've considered a lot of different factors, and this seems to be the best direction for me to head in at this point in my life. And if you never try, you never know, right?

I will say, though, that I'm a little nervous because I'm terrible at staying on-track for big projects and I can easily waste entire hours of my day if I'm not careful about it. I really need to buckle down and engage my self-discipline powers if I want to make this work.

So that's the first big update this month - a shift in attitude that really is going to change the way that I approach my writing career moving forward.

2. Muslim representation in my fiction

Another decision I made this month is to be more open and overt about Muslim representation in my books. For those who might not know, I am a Muslim author of fiction, and as a result I want to write fiction that is Muslim-friendly at the least and which genuinely represents the Muslim reality at the most.

I mentioned this in a previous blog post, but I noticed while I was editing Murder in Heliopolis that I was downplaying the Muslim-ness of my main character, Laith, and his wife, Warda. Which is a shame, really, because we already don't have enough genuine and realistic representation of Muslim characters in fiction. That's going to change, and I'm going to offer supporting materials and resources for non-Muslim readers who want to understand, starting with this list of Islamic phrases and their meanings.

Islam is such a big part of our lifestyles as Muslims - it's a complete way of life. It affects how we dress, how we interact with others, what media we consume, what politics we support, which social movements we rally against (or support), and so much more. It's everything. And there's no point pretending like it's not, even if large groups of audiences today turn their nose up at religion.

At this moment in history, more than ever, I think it's important for non-Muslims to understand what it means to be Muslim. We have entered a time of change and upheaval from which there is no going back, and as an author and avid reader I've experienced first-hand how fiction can help educate and minimize resistance to learning. I think back to classics like To Kill A Mockingbird, or Animal Farm, or even The Great Gatsby, and the bountiful lessons they each hold about various socioeconomic, political, and humanitarian issues. Nobody can tell me that these books do not teach as much as they entertain.

Learning through fiction is highly effective, and it's time more readers were exposed to the Islamic world view. There's nothing scary or terrible about it. In fact, I have never been pulled to such deep emotions as when I listen to or read the Quran, or when I hear a loved one recite it, or when I listen to lectures about the prophets, our history, and events which leave me awe-struck and full of wonder.

The mind feasts and the heart overflows. Maybe - just maybe - I can share some of that emotion with my readers. I can't do much for my people suffering around the world, but I can do at least this.

Anyway, in brief: More Muslim representation! More Muslim characters, more Muslim-friendly fiction and fantasy worlds (I allow myself to indulge 😌), and more detailed representations of Islamic ways of living! Hoorah!

3. Developmental Editing Services

This is also something I've been sitting on for a while. I've wanted to become an editor for a while, but I always held myself back because I felt like an impostor - Who are you to tell people what to do with their book?

But then I realized the same question could be said of any editor just starting out, and we've all got to start somewhere! So, here I am, humbly announcing that I will be opening my developmental editing and proofreading services in the near future (I'm thinking May/June 2024).

By that time, I hope to have all of the sample materials prepared and ready for any interested writers to check out. And, since I'm just starting out, I'll be pricing my services relatively low, not in reflection of the quality, but rather in hopes that I can build up my portfolio. More on that at a later date.

4. This Week's Writing Lesson

I made the label for this a long time ago and have used it very irregularly ever since. Originally, the idea was that every week, I would tackle a new piece of writing advice, a lesson learned, or other interesting thought pieces related to writing fiction, and share them using this label.

For a long time, I neglected that, or used it very sparsely. I'm hoping now to be able to share a post every Monday for this segment of the blog, and I hope that these posts are thought-provoking, helpful, and/or practical! In fact, I've got them scheduled all the way through March, so let's hope this backlog can keep me going inshaAllah!

As always, I welcome feedback and your thoughts on any of them. I'm happy to engage in open discussions about any of the topics I tackle.

5. Social Media Decisions

I've struggled a lot with this particular topic. I love that social media has put me in direct contact with so many readers and writers. But I hate the direction social media platforms are going in. I hate the spam bots. I hate the inappropriate content which glorifies highly harmful behaviour. I hate that AI is encroaching upon all of our creative spaces. And I hate that companies are more interested in their bottom line than in the health of their users.

Unfortunately, this means that a few things are rattling around in my mind. I am seriously considering "leaving" social media platforms altogether. Already I rarely use Twitter, and IG offers almost zero interaction or engagement. Tumblr is a little better, but I don't believe it's headed in a positive direction in the long run, either. I'm concerned about the security of my writing and my art (as amateurish as it may be), and I'm worried about that overall, at this stage in both of our evolutions, social media is more of a time-sink than anything of particular benefit to me as a writer or as a person.

https://hyba.tumblr.com/post/743584398263435264

Instead of shutting down my social media, however, I've decided to use it as an update feed. While my posts and writing will be hosted elsewhere, I'll post links to them on my social media pages. I may even interact with readers and writers there, but I won't be sharing any of my own art of writing there, unless I decide otherwise.

I'm hoping to start moving most of my engagement and interaction back to this blog, with the hopes that fellow writers and readers will decide to engage with my writing and my blog posts. At the same time, I am actively searching for blogs and writing communities that lend themselves well to this new setup.

This is a particularly new decision (though it's one I've been considering for a long time - years, actually), so more details to come soon.

And finally:

6. Murder in Heliopolis editing update

I posted a progress update earlier this month, but here's a general overview of what I've been able to complete for Murder in Heliopolis:

Chapter 0 (prologue) - Drafted and edited.
Chapter 1 - Edited.
Chapter 2 - Drafted and edited.
Chapter 3 - Drafted and edited.
Chapter 4 - Currently drafting and editing.

In total, I've managed to reach a total of 15k+ words this month, and that is about 25% of the original length of the draft. Already we're seeing a huge increase in word count, and I'm really excited to see where this takes me moving forward. I've mentioned before that I expect the finished second draft to be somewhere around 120-150k words, and I think we're really moving in that direction.

Moreover, here are some interesting worldbuilding and character posts I've shared this month:

Check them out, and keep in mind that there will be new character introductions every Thursday, and new worldbuilding posts every Tuesday!

A note on organization and breaking down the novel editing process

To better organize myself, I'm currently using the offline task management tool, Kanri, to break the editing work down into smaller pieces:

I'll be sharing a blog post where I talk about what's in my writer's toolbox soon, so keep an eye out for that if you want to learn more about Kanri, yWriter, and other tools I'm using every day to keep organized and productive.

And while there are a few more things I could add to this update, I think that's more than enough for one post!

If you're read this far, thanks! I appreciate it. I hope you'll leave me a little comment and tell me what you were most proud of accomplishing this past month, or what your plans are for March! And, of course, if you have any questions, feel free to ask.

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Ramadan 1445: If you are a Muslim writer of fiction or an Islamic fiction author, take the quick Google form interview and be featured in Scrittorio this Ramadan 2024.

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