« 105: Understanding the Unknowable | Main | 107: Re con text » November 03, 2004

106: The Slow Tread

I'm not doing National Novel Writing Month this year. I may have already come clean about this fact, but there was always the possibility I would have lost my mind over the last 24 hours and decided to try it anyway. However, since today is the 2nd of November and my notes for THE ALCHEMICAL APOCALYPSE are safely tucked away in a drawer, I can confidently say that I won't be tempted.

I did plot out the remainder of the BOOK OF LIES over last week, trying to get a handle on where I am (40,000 words) and where I need to be. I'm also considering the state of the pitch -- the hook, the first three chapters, and the outline -- and realizing that, while my first chapter hooks pretty well, the following chapters sort of trail off. I was still trying to get a handle on the subject material and, well, it shows a bit. I'll need to go back and tighten those up to more deftly get into the flow of events. This translates to some cutting and editing that will probably gut 5,000 to 7,000 words from my raw count. So, I'm about a third of the way done.

Does it feel like a third? I dunno. This book has always been weird to me. Usually I've got a handle on where things are going and the pacing, but -- and I knew this when I started -- I'm writing first and doing the detailed research later -- and this different approach has left me somewhat adrift. I've always preferred to be writing than just doing research and, for many years, I've had a block against doing shorter works (short stories, flash, novellas) and so the only opporunity to be writing was just the book -- research be damned. This may not be the best answer.

Treading water today. I've got a stack of unfinished projects on my desk and most of them don't require the same extended effort as finishing a book. I may take a week or so and get those finished. Hopefully I'll be more engaging on the topic of the BOOK OF LIES as well. Thanks for dropping by.

Posted by Teppo at November 3, 2004 07:54 AM

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