my current state of mind...
I have been happy lately. :-)
It is very satisfying to have a first draft of book two finished, even if it is crap. The first draft is always the hardest. The following drafts are where the fun begins, for me anyway. I love rewriting. It is so much easier than starting form nothing. It is a little bit like writing fan fiction, the only difference being that it is my own story. :-) Now just six more drafts of this book to go until it is in the same place that book one is in!
With the momentum from NaNo I got to work on draft 7 of book one, Thin. I have 33k on it already (copy, paste, edit, and add from all six preview drafts) and i have reached the Change Place. Oh the dreaded Changing Place. That is the place in the plot where I completely changed everything and so most of what is in the first six drafts will be useless in the copy, paste, edit, add department. The scenes from now on will be 90% brand new settings and happenings. I am torn. I was planning on doing the rest of Thin for JaNo... but...
It has recently occurred to me that--even with this being the seventh and most satisfactory draft to date--it is still not quiet capturing the same essence of this idea for it that I have in my head. It is good, I know it is--not going to get caught being humble, am I?--so getting it bound and letting nice people read it will bring me lots of praise and then it would be too easy to avoid the work that it would take to make it reach it's full potential... If we can conceive it, then we can achieve it.... and as far as this epic goes, it might take me twenty years but I want to try my best to achieve it.
Maybe I will work on it for JaNo, get it bound for motivation, but not let anyone else read it.... or maybe I will work on Thin for JaNo, then throw together something else entirely for the proof copy in the following months...
I do have a WIP that is for kids--as well as the child in all of us (think CS Lewis)--about a boy on an adventure through a magical forest... 15k on it already and it isn't a very complicated plot... I could probably finish the story at 35k and get it bound... In fact, Heather and I have several stories idea set in that forest. She actually made a 10k short story out of one that she let me read yesterday (it was superb). Maybe we could write a few more and get them bound as a collection...
or maybe I am just being stupid and it is time to let Outside Eyes (meaning not Heather) read some of the epic... Maybe doing it for JaNo will help me get it in a place where I would be less squirmy at the thought of Outside Eyes reading it... It currently not having an ending is the root of most of my discomfort at the idea...
Being indecisive as well as a writer is very inconvenient at times... Okay, there is nothing else for it. I will just have to make a decision and stick with it to the end. I was indecisive about what I was going to NaNo, had to commit myself to something and it all worked out for the best... so here it goes.
I WILL do Thin for JaNo. I WILL get Thin bound for my proof copy.
It is very satisfying to have a first draft of book two finished, even if it is crap. The first draft is always the hardest. The following drafts are where the fun begins, for me anyway. I love rewriting. It is so much easier than starting form nothing. It is a little bit like writing fan fiction, the only difference being that it is my own story. :-) Now just six more drafts of this book to go until it is in the same place that book one is in!
With the momentum from NaNo I got to work on draft 7 of book one, Thin. I have 33k on it already (copy, paste, edit, and add from all six preview drafts) and i have reached the Change Place. Oh the dreaded Changing Place. That is the place in the plot where I completely changed everything and so most of what is in the first six drafts will be useless in the copy, paste, edit, add department. The scenes from now on will be 90% brand new settings and happenings. I am torn. I was planning on doing the rest of Thin for JaNo... but...
It has recently occurred to me that--even with this being the seventh and most satisfactory draft to date--it is still not quiet capturing the same essence of this idea for it that I have in my head. It is good, I know it is--not going to get caught being humble, am I?--so getting it bound and letting nice people read it will bring me lots of praise and then it would be too easy to avoid the work that it would take to make it reach it's full potential... If we can conceive it, then we can achieve it.... and as far as this epic goes, it might take me twenty years but I want to try my best to achieve it.
Maybe I will work on it for JaNo, get it bound for motivation, but not let anyone else read it.... or maybe I will work on Thin for JaNo, then throw together something else entirely for the proof copy in the following months...
I do have a WIP that is for kids--as well as the child in all of us (think CS Lewis)--about a boy on an adventure through a magical forest... 15k on it already and it isn't a very complicated plot... I could probably finish the story at 35k and get it bound... In fact, Heather and I have several stories idea set in that forest. She actually made a 10k short story out of one that she let me read yesterday (it was superb). Maybe we could write a few more and get them bound as a collection...
or maybe I am just being stupid and it is time to let Outside Eyes (meaning not Heather) read some of the epic... Maybe doing it for JaNo will help me get it in a place where I would be less squirmy at the thought of Outside Eyes reading it... It currently not having an ending is the root of most of my discomfort at the idea...
Being indecisive as well as a writer is very inconvenient at times... Okay, there is nothing else for it. I will just have to make a decision and stick with it to the end. I was indecisive about what I was going to NaNo, had to commit myself to something and it all worked out for the best... so here it goes.
I WILL do Thin for JaNo. I WILL get Thin bound for my proof copy.