New Projects
WANTED: CHOSEN ONE, NOW HIRING is away to its readers. I am anxious for their responses. I'm very pleased with how this story turned out, and I'm anxious to start querying agents (though I have the usual fears that my query is not good enough--and the combined fear of agents dismissing the work solely on word count. Fantasy novels are, by genre, not short novels. An average sided fantasy work is 150k but for some reason fantasy repping agents still reject anything over 110k. How do you have any fantasy clients?).
While I was finishing the revision, I was anxious to get back to MISTAKEN and begin work on THE SEVENTH SACRIFICE. So unlike my normal completion of a manuscript, I won't need to take a couple weeks off. I can jump right into a new project. Right?
...right?
*sigh*
Okay, so here's what's happening. I returned to work on MISTAKEN. Now granted, I stopped on a hard part. It was a transition period and I need to advance him to the inciting action, but I still have a little bit more to establish, so it was a slog. I pushed through to page 30, but then something occured to me. I don't have an ending.
Now sure, the ending doesn't exist until I write it, but I cannot think of a single story of mine, written or conceptualized, that I do not know the ending. Even if it's something as simple as "everyone dies," I at least no what direction I need to take the story. But with MISTAKEN, I don't know. I know the premise, I know the people. But where am I going with this? What do I want the end to be?
I don't know. And because I don't know, I am unable to continue. I don't know where I should go next because I'm on a train to an unknown destination. How can I figure out what stops are in between if I don't know what line I'm on? This requires additional brainstorming.
SO, what we're going to do instead is start work on THE SEVENTH SACRIFICE. I am equally keen on that story and I have already written both the beginning and the end. At least, enough of it so that I can remember the begining and the end when it comes down to it. I fun little ditty originally sung about an old brown mare and how she ain't what she used to be. Ain't what she used to be. Ain't what she used to be.
That's good, right? I have this project I want to work on. I know the beginning and the ending. What's the problem? Well, I wrote the first chapter yesterday. IT'S CRAP! I mean, it's just down right amateurish crap. Let's take everything we can about the character's backstory and the direction of the book and shove it into the first chapter. Ugh. No need for pacing. No need for subtlety. Just shove it all down the reader's throat.
*sigh*
So that killed that project. Not entirely, but I won't continue until I've rewritten the first chapter and it doesn't suck on rotten eggs. Hopefully I can do that this afternoon, but I don't know. I look at it and I'm so disappointed. I was so enthusiastic for the beginning and I completely botched it.
And of course, there's still my YA House on Sandwich Notch Road/Lane. Writing for a younger audience is hard for me. I don't usually do it. It feels like wading through a pool. I can do it, but I'm slowed down. It's still on my short list of projects to work on, but it just doesn't hold the top spot. What does? Well, right now...I don't know.
While I was finishing the revision, I was anxious to get back to MISTAKEN and begin work on THE SEVENTH SACRIFICE. So unlike my normal completion of a manuscript, I won't need to take a couple weeks off. I can jump right into a new project. Right?
...right?
*sigh*
Okay, so here's what's happening. I returned to work on MISTAKEN. Now granted, I stopped on a hard part. It was a transition period and I need to advance him to the inciting action, but I still have a little bit more to establish, so it was a slog. I pushed through to page 30, but then something occured to me. I don't have an ending.
Now sure, the ending doesn't exist until I write it, but I cannot think of a single story of mine, written or conceptualized, that I do not know the ending. Even if it's something as simple as "everyone dies," I at least no what direction I need to take the story. But with MISTAKEN, I don't know. I know the premise, I know the people. But where am I going with this? What do I want the end to be?
I don't know. And because I don't know, I am unable to continue. I don't know where I should go next because I'm on a train to an unknown destination. How can I figure out what stops are in between if I don't know what line I'm on? This requires additional brainstorming.
SO, what we're going to do instead is start work on THE SEVENTH SACRIFICE. I am equally keen on that story and I have already written both the beginning and the end. At least, enough of it so that I can remember the begining and the end when it comes down to it. I fun little ditty originally sung about an old brown mare and how she ain't what she used to be. Ain't what she used to be. Ain't what she used to be.
That's good, right? I have this project I want to work on. I know the beginning and the ending. What's the problem? Well, I wrote the first chapter yesterday. IT'S CRAP! I mean, it's just down right amateurish crap. Let's take everything we can about the character's backstory and the direction of the book and shove it into the first chapter. Ugh. No need for pacing. No need for subtlety. Just shove it all down the reader's throat.
*sigh*
So that killed that project. Not entirely, but I won't continue until I've rewritten the first chapter and it doesn't suck on rotten eggs. Hopefully I can do that this afternoon, but I don't know. I look at it and I'm so disappointed. I was so enthusiastic for the beginning and I completely botched it.
And of course, there's still my YA House on Sandwich Notch Road/Lane. Writing for a younger audience is hard for me. I don't usually do it. It feels like wading through a pool. I can do it, but I'm slowed down. It's still on my short list of projects to work on, but it just doesn't hold the top spot. What does? Well, right now...I don't know.