Done!!!
I am finally finished with this very rough first draft of my back story that I started back in November as my first NaNoWriMo project.
This weekend I've written 5282 words to finish off the manuscript. Total word count: 105,294.
This has been a long and interesting, and especially enlightening journey for me. I started out writing this to clarify the past of two brothers who are central figures in the WIP I was working on. Besides accomplishing that I also managed to make some excellent world building breakthroughs that will really add to my WIP, which I am eagerly looking forward to getting back to.
Besides story ideas I actually learned quite a bit about how I write. For now, this back story will be tucked away for a while. I'll come back to it in late summer to give it a full read through. I'd like to turn this into a publishable manuscript someday and I know that will be quite a task. This book has good bones but will need a massive rewrite and reconstruction.
When it comes to writing I fall somewhere between the plotter and the pantser. Most of this book was written while wearing the pantser hat, a bit too much, I think, which is part of the reason why it would need a lot of work to shape into a publishable book. That said, there are some pantser moments that have become some of the most important aspects of the additional world building I accomplished.
Overall, I'm happy with the story I've written, even though I'm not happy with the shape it's currently in. One side effect of this book is the fun I'm going to have developing histories of some of the newer additions to this world I've created. I'm not a short story writer, but I do write scenes that are disguised as short stories. Lots to explore with that here.
Next up is doing a read-thru of the 35,000 or so words from the WIP I set aside last year to write this back story. Once that is done I can begin working on reshaping the plot based upon all of the things I now know that I didn't before. Most of the 35,000 words will end up tossed, but they will be replaced by a better story.
But for now, I'm taking the rest of the day off. I issued a challenge to myself to not only finish the first draft of this back story but to also finish reading Laura Anne Gilman's Staying Dead. That's probably not going to happen but I should be able to make a dent in what's left to read.
Anyway, I'm finished with my first draft of my back story and it feels good.
This weekend I've written 5282 words to finish off the manuscript. Total word count: 105,294.
This has been a long and interesting, and especially enlightening journey for me. I started out writing this to clarify the past of two brothers who are central figures in the WIP I was working on. Besides accomplishing that I also managed to make some excellent world building breakthroughs that will really add to my WIP, which I am eagerly looking forward to getting back to.
Besides story ideas I actually learned quite a bit about how I write. For now, this back story will be tucked away for a while. I'll come back to it in late summer to give it a full read through. I'd like to turn this into a publishable manuscript someday and I know that will be quite a task. This book has good bones but will need a massive rewrite and reconstruction.
When it comes to writing I fall somewhere between the plotter and the pantser. Most of this book was written while wearing the pantser hat, a bit too much, I think, which is part of the reason why it would need a lot of work to shape into a publishable book. That said, there are some pantser moments that have become some of the most important aspects of the additional world building I accomplished.
Overall, I'm happy with the story I've written, even though I'm not happy with the shape it's currently in. One side effect of this book is the fun I'm going to have developing histories of some of the newer additions to this world I've created. I'm not a short story writer, but I do write scenes that are disguised as short stories. Lots to explore with that here.
Next up is doing a read-thru of the 35,000 or so words from the WIP I set aside last year to write this back story. Once that is done I can begin working on reshaping the plot based upon all of the things I now know that I didn't before. Most of the 35,000 words will end up tossed, but they will be replaced by a better story.
But for now, I'm taking the rest of the day off. I issued a challenge to myself to not only finish the first draft of this back story but to also finish reading Laura Anne Gilman's Staying Dead. That's probably not going to happen but I should be able to make a dent in what's left to read.
Anyway, I'm finished with my first draft of my back story and it feels good.