Writing Status

It's been a while since I posted an update on my writing. The last you heard, I was buzzing over a great crit and perhaps letting my head swell with the possibilities. Since then, I've been revamping the first 15K or so of SoD, and I just started into the new stuff. My word count has increased, but I can't remember the exact total, so the sidebar's not updated as yet. It's somewhere around 23K, thanks to the new scenes I've added to the first bit I wrote and the new material I've just gotten to this week.

I'm really glad I went back and overhauled the first 17K I had written. The beginning is much stronger and actually introduces and emphasizes the correct threads. The following scenes got rid of the vague "we're sorta doing and saying what needs to be here, but don't ask us to get specific" writing that plagues the first 20K of my first drafts as I figure out just what the hell I've begun. I have a very clear sense of direction and purpose for writing the rest of the first act, a lot of the details of Acts 2 & 3 have revealed themselves, and the arcs of the characters over the course of the entire series are gelling a bit better for me.

I guess this means I've figured out something about my writing process. I can do a good amount of planning to get me going, but I'll probably still need to stop and go back over the first 20K to get a better foundation. This process may have to be repeated as I go through the book. I think this is what really tangled me up in The Maque. I thought I could keep moving forward, and that taking notes on the scenes I wanted to change, the plot threads I wanted to tweak or introduce, and the character arcs I wanted to adjust would be enough to address the evolving work. Not so. No matter how meticulous my notes on those changes were, I still tried to keep it all in my head so I could maintain a clear picture of what the previous parts of my book would one day look like to help me write the new stuff. Doesn't work for me. If I figure out how I need to change the stuff that's come before where I'm at, I will most likely need to go back and make those adjustments. I can't let go of it, because I need it to remind me what I have to do as I move forward. Too many balls to keep juggling.

Now I'm writing brand new stuff again. Like what I'm getting. I still hold out hope that I'll be able to get a lot closer to 60K by the end of the year, but as long as I don't gum myself up like I did for HD or The Masque, I'll be happy. Just keep things moving and flowing and the book will get finished.