If NaNoWriMo and the month after were a ball, then the editing feels like a chain. I was very proud of writing over 90K words in 8 weeks but am now dragging my feet as I try and make sense of it.
Current working title ‘Albatross’
I’ve been left with something different and a lot larger than I expected. Some elements are better than I remember, others not so. I was never expecting to have the finished article after the first attempt, especially as a newbie, but sometimes I wonder which careful plan I was following.
The main plot has been clear in my head for a long time but I’m not sure it comes through well enough. The pacing, prose, dialogue and language in general also need work (important details I am told).
A biggest decision so far is going to be deciding how long to make it. Am I going for a German autobahn or a British motorway? Should I try and sacrifice as much of my ‘irreplaceable’ creation as possible to keep it moving or take my time and risk the words spilling across more than one book? I think I have just made the obvious choice but need to live with it for a few days, a trial co-habitation to see how we get on.
The view from your soap box isn’t always as clear as from the ground.
Some sections tend to be a bit ‘ranty’. I think I was using them to get things out of my head that were rattling around and annoying me. The other issue, as with most people, is time. Trying to get stuff done while balancing the conflicting demands of work, children, life and occasionally wife is not always easy. I could stop doing this blog but it is proving a useful exercise; think, write, edit, publish. A more immediate mini-version of what I’m trying to achieve.
In the mean time, my good friend Michael Bolan has just published his first book – The Sons Of Brabant. I had the pleasure of reading the first draft a few months back and look forward to reading the final version. And then picking his brains on how he did it. Repeatedly.
Now back to the ball and chain.
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