I got the idea for Monajjfyllena when I stumbled over this blog presenting George Orwell’s wartime diaries in ‘real-time’, offset by seventy years. So I got to thinking, what if a fictional character – better still a mythical character – were somehow able to do the same thing? That idea became the diary of Monajjfyllena, AKA the Dragoncharm Blog.
Okay, so the blog was really just an experiment in online fiction. The story was written on a ‘follow-your-nose’ basis, without any kind of plan. I tried not to think ahead, so each entry is pure first draft, written off the cuff, on the day.
So was it a success? By and large I think it holds together. It’s patchy, yes, but that’s inevitable given its unplanned, unedited nature. And the discipline of progressing the story daily gives it a seat-of-the-pants rawness. Will we hear any more from Monajjfyllena? It’s possible. I’m aware now of a whole backstory that’s just hinted at in the blog. Maybe one day that’ll get fleshed out.
In the meantime, I’ve collated all the blog posts into one easy-to-read PDF and published it here for free download under a Creative Commons Licence.
Graham Edwards 