As I finished up the final chapter on book two of the Depths of Memory series one emotion reigned supreme.
Nagging doubt.
Yes, I’m happy to wrap up this middle book in the series. It accomplishes what I wanted it to, and where I think it needs flushing out, I have copious notes for the numerous rounds of edits to follow before I pitch it to my editor. I mean, I still need to pick a title. Geesh!
But right now, I have to wonder, if just a big, enormous pile of bird poo I’ve heaped upon page after page which I’ll attempt to put a shine to later? Will it be worthy of your read, or will you hang your head in frustration, wondering, ‘what was she thinking, I’ve seen all of this before?’
So, for now, I’ll walk away from it, because right now I’m too close to it. Personally, I feel editing too soon after the first draft is a mistake, at least for me. I need to forget all about it, and return refreshed and come back in a month and edit it with a fresh perspective. At this point I can rediscover the story for myself, and make sure it’s worthy, and if not, make it so.
In the meantime, I’m doing some worldbuilding and character bios for NaNoWriMo next month. See, every November writers around the world try and write a 50k novel in a month, and this year I’m joining in the attempt. Wish me luck. It should be a fun ride, and a good start to my book The Madness Path, which I’ve just done some brief character sketches and scenes on so far, so this gives the opportunity to get a good chunk of the book jumped into.
You can expect frequent word count updates on the book during November, so stay tuned. I’m mostly looking forward to the dedication of simply ‘doing it’ versus worrying about self-editing during the writing process. This can make for a messy manuscript and more edits later, but much more creativity and production up front. (At least that’s the theory.) Those who know me well know I’ve taken on a number of challenges in my life. Who knows how this one will go, but obviously I love pushing my boundaries and seeing what I’m capable of.
I know EXACTLY what you mean. Wrapping up my own sequel has made me sit back and doublethink about how possibly awful it is, a feeling I keep trying to just shove down and ignore while it claws at the cellar door.
I’m looking forward to November. Two years ago my NaNoWriMo novel became my first published novel, and it was a pretty amazing feeling to succeed in doing something that sounds insane. Well, that probably is insane. That’s OK: I don’t mind being crazy, heh. It’ll feel good when we win. =)
Wow, I adore the fact that The Curse of Troius (which I’ve read and loved, btw, in case you haven’t figure that out–and to my followers, READ IT!) started as a NaNoWriMo! This gives me grand hopes!
I also love that you are assured we both WILL win this year. Of course we will. What other outcome is possible. I’m outlining/working on bio’s daily. The Madness Path is happening. It’s insane, but life is insane. Whatever.
Ignore the cellar door. After NaNo we will both redress our cellars, er, sequels, and they shall be made polished gems. For now, they can howl away in the darkness. Mostly ignored. Mostly.
I do agree with all the ideas you’ve presented in your post. They’re really convincing and will definitely work. Still, the posts are too short for beginners. Could you please extend them a bit from next time? Thanks for the post.