I'm finally moving past the critiques, folks! No more updates on that front. Don't need them. Don't want them. I'm moving on.
Draft #3 began this week. It's what I should have been writing all along. I know it is.
Draft #3 began this week. It's what I should have been writing all along. I know it is.
I've already talked about this quite a bit. I'll probably do it more in the future because I love to talk about the process of writing. But to summarize, when I started transforming this story from a novella to a full novel, I became intensely focused on bringing more tension into the story, enough to give the story a palpable direction for the reader to follow along with. What I forgot about in that process was the intention behind my writing the original novella.
Did you know, between Summer 2011 and Summer 2012 I live in a state of perpetual Autumn? I did. It's the season my story is set in and, everywhere I looked, everywhere I went, all there was was Autumn. Biting Winter winds in January? A really cold Autumn day. New leaves on trees in the Spring? Autumn has leaves on trees, and the weather is similar day to day. I forgot all about that.
These recent critiques have reminded me of that. They've made me look at what is really important to this story and what is just extra. Do you need whip cream on that Starbucks drink? No, but it's certainly nice. I had a lot of stuff like that. And now, in Draft #3, it's all going away! I'm taking this story home, back to its origins.
Don't worry, I still have a lot of new things to add to the original novella. Cool stuff, fun stuff that will give the characters and story a greater depth, breathe a better life into them.
And, as I write this, I can see how this all works out. I constructed several story components to do a single task when, right in front of me, I had one sitting there, waiting for its chance to shine. And shine it will.
So throw out all the extra, all the superfluous! Get back to the heart of the matter and create a better end, a more fulfilling whole, one that can be introduced, built up, and brought to completion in a pleasing manner.
Onward to Draft #3!
Did you know, between Summer 2011 and Summer 2012 I live in a state of perpetual Autumn? I did. It's the season my story is set in and, everywhere I looked, everywhere I went, all there was was Autumn. Biting Winter winds in January? A really cold Autumn day. New leaves on trees in the Spring? Autumn has leaves on trees, and the weather is similar day to day. I forgot all about that.
These recent critiques have reminded me of that. They've made me look at what is really important to this story and what is just extra. Do you need whip cream on that Starbucks drink? No, but it's certainly nice. I had a lot of stuff like that. And now, in Draft #3, it's all going away! I'm taking this story home, back to its origins.
Don't worry, I still have a lot of new things to add to the original novella. Cool stuff, fun stuff that will give the characters and story a greater depth, breathe a better life into them.
And, as I write this, I can see how this all works out. I constructed several story components to do a single task when, right in front of me, I had one sitting there, waiting for its chance to shine. And shine it will.
So throw out all the extra, all the superfluous! Get back to the heart of the matter and create a better end, a more fulfilling whole, one that can be introduced, built up, and brought to completion in a pleasing manner.
Onward to Draft #3!