On Not Quitting

I came across this quote yesterday by Richard Bach: A professional author is an amateur author who didn’t quit. I couldn’t have seen it at a better time.

Editing and rewriting my book has been hard. Even now, looking now at one of the pages of my manuscript, I see all of the notes on how I need to expand certain parts (I wrote a post about that) and cut others, how I have to get deeper into the characters’ thoughts and actions, how I must add a lot more description.

That I took those notes in red ink doesn’t help (as I had been warned). It looks angry. It looks aggressive. It looks like blood has been splattered across the page.

But let’s get back to the edit and rewrite.

EXPAND!

I spent the week reading through my manuscript. I had been doing edits on my computer, but decided to print it off and work with it that way (with a notebook to write in as well). It was great to approach my writing through something other than typing on a keyboard and staring at a screen. It got me into the story from another direction.

But what I’ve found is that I have a lot more work to do.

Picked Up a Pen

I’ve switched from editing on my computer to editing in a notebook. I suppose it isn’t “editing”, per se. It’s more of jotting down ideas as I read along. But it’s something different. And it’s something good.

This Time: Struggling With WHAT I Write, Not HOW I Write It

While I wrote Glory, I was excited. There was action, suspense, horror. There were characters that I loved and others that I despised (although in some way I loved them too). It was something I knew, as a reader, I would’ve loved to read.

But I was also worried. I wrote about some very serious situations. I got into some very dark themes. And I wondered how people were going to judge me for it.

That I was teaching kindergarten at the time didn’t help.

Tapping into the Darkness

A few days ago I had the realization that I needed to keep my story simple. I had complicated it by adding conversations, character development, history, and description. That’s not to say that those things aren’t important to some extent. But they didn’t need to be where I had put them or as much as I had.

The thing is that I like keeping things short and to the point. I get excited by my economy of words. I feel a rush as the story moves quickly. And, with that, it makes writing feel more like a passion than a chore.

But yesterday I had another realization about my passion for writing. It involves tapping into the darkness.

Up North

My venue has changed: I’m up North.

I’ve come up to my dad’s house to finish my book. I’ll be here for the next five or six weeks. That should give me more than enough time (I hope).

The King’s Son, Chapter 1

I’ve spent a week writing about writing, but I haven’t actually shown any of my work. I’m not sure what the protocol is. Or if there even is protocol. But I would like to post one of my pieces today.

It’s the first chapter in the book I’m now working on: The King’s Son.

A Regular Day Off (That I Didn’t Completely Enjoy)

I took the day off of writing yesterday. That means I didn’t work on my book. I didn’t work on my blog. And I’m not sure how I feel about that.

A Chat with a Friend

Today was a bit of a strange day. I woke up feeling really good. Which was in huge contrast to how I was feeling yesterday. But, even with that, I couldn’t get myself to focus on my writing. Not at first.

There was a strange buzz in my head, almost a cloud of sorts (not the type that come with my migraines…which I’ll explain another time). It was similar to the feeling I got when I sat down and binge watched the first season of Lost. My mind was racing.

Short, All Round

Today was a short writing day. And I mean SHORT. It was only around 30 minutes. And I only got to one chapter. And that one chapter I cut from 600 words to 300. So, yes, SHORT, all round.

But I also feel like it was a good writing day. My revelation of keeping things simple really affected me. For one, it picked up the pace of the story. For another (and this one is more important), it got me back to my usual style. Even more than that, it got me back to a style that was BEFORE my usual style.