Writing is one of my absolute favorite things to do. Whether it’s pen and paper or on my keyboard, taking the thoughts in my head and putting them down on paper is one of the most rewarding things someone can do. Based on what I’ve read here on SteemIt, I imagine there are others who would echo that opinion.

While I am willing to write anything, my ultimate passion is creating worlds and telling stories. I am reading a book right now about the Medieval times and, while reading, I am coming up with stories around it. I can’t help it. A small landowner who is forced to cross the Channel and fight with William as he conquers England. It doesn’t matter who the landowner is, the trials and tribulations of being that soldier would be an interesting story.

But I’ve noticed something as I’ve written stories and read other people’s stories. People are not buying these stories strictly for the words. Instead, what they are buying is the author. Are James Patterson’s stories all that great? Are the ones that are ghostwritten by someone else really all that great?

Can we answer that question without bias?

My belief is that the primary reason the ghostwritten James Patterson stories sell so much is because it has his name in big bold letters. But that’s buying the name rather than buying the words and I want people to read what I write for my words.

And that’s why I’ve created an account on here with the most boring name possible: pseudonymwriter.

Why Be Anonymous?

I was inspired to create this account because @kevinwong talked about wanting to read fiction. What I write might not be the type of fiction he likes, but I appreciate him inadvertently encouraging me to be a part of the community.

While in the Steemit.chat room, @dwinblood said something interesting to me: “True popularity can attract herd mentality and not be a true judge of quality …”

That’s so true. And while @thisisbenbrick is right that if my writing were to take off, the same popularity that James Patterson has built could result in me getting mindless up-votes. But it was important for me to try.

It was important for me to disconnect all of my other writing and focus entirely on these words. I don’t want someone recognizing some of my other writing and up-voting one of my chapters simply because they know it’s me. I want them to follow me, read my words, and up-vote me because they like what I am writing, not because I am pseudonymwriter.

So I remain anonymous because I believe in my heart that the words I am writing are enjoyable. I believe people will enjoy the story I tell. And I believe they will come back because of that story. If that ceases to exist, I know that my words are not worth anyone’s time and I can focus on becoming better at my craft.

Anonymity ensures I become a better writer because it forces me to write as hard as I can. People are not reading me because I am pseudonymwriter. They are reading for the story.

How Does This Work?

This is a blank slate. I have not written a single word of this story. The readers get to decide if the story continues or if it does not. And really, that means that the community determines the fate of the story.

What does that mean?

Let’s say that I write a chapter and it is poorly received. It doesn’t receive up-votes and the comments are clear about how bad that chapter is. Then I know I have work to do, forcing me back to the drawing board (or story board) to determine where I went wrong.

But let’s say that the chapter is well received. Not only does it receive up-votes, but the comments are encouraging and it pushes the story forward. That means I’m onto something, allowing for the progression of the story to go forward.

While I would be lying if I said the money didn’t matter (I am a writer after all and we don’t notoriously make a lot of money), I’m here primarily for the opportunity to write. Don’t up-vote future chapters simply because I wrote it. Up-vote if because you love it. Up-vote it because you are enjoying the story. Cherish your vote because if you use it on me, I will cherish it.

So What’s the Story?

Now we get to the good stuff …

I’ve had a story ruminating in my mind for quite some time, but never really got around to telling it. Like I said above, I sometimes pull from history to create interesting futuristic stories.

So what you’re going to get is a science fiction story. It takes place hundreds—or thousands—of years in the future. Humans have learned intergalactic travel, they’ve done what they do best and conquered planets, and have, in the process, lost their democratic way. In its place, an emperor with complete authority.

But trouble is brewing. A hyper-aggressive race, originating on one planet just outside the border of the human empire, has run out of space on its planet. And so the race expands. These “aliens” take planet after planet.

So this is a war story. But it is a war story told through the eyes of individual characters, some on the battlefield and some far from it. One is a drug dealer with dreams of becoming a kingpin of crime. One is a soldier, forced to enforce the emperor’s will both towards its citizens, but also against the invading army. One is a prostitute, forced to please men out of fear, but desperate to control her destiny. Through their eyes, I hope to portray this juggernaut that threatens the very existence of humanity.

I encourage you to follow me if the story interests you so you can get alerts when I write a new chapter to the story. And if you think this is all an awful idea, tell me that too. You’re the community; you get to decide where the story goes.

Follow Me @pseudonymwriter and keep up to date...