It’s been a while since my last update with the book!
So, today was the first time in about two weeks since I had touched my draft. And I think it was a good thing. Why? Well…
1. I think it’s good to have some distance, some space from what you’re writing. It gives you a different perspective.
2. I just wasn’t feeling it. For some reason, I felt the need to not work on the draft and so I listened to that feeling. I didn’t want to force myself to write just to have some words written. I mean, is it really progress if I’m just typing to feel like I’m getting ahead rather than writing from the heart?
Anyway, I ended up focusing on other things for a little bit the past couple of weeks… taking a vacation from (fiction) writing. And so, today was my first day back… and to be honest, it wasn’t really spent writing, but reading my entire draft as one unit.
So far, I have about 70 single-spaced pages written (or about 26,000 words) and this was my first time reading it from start-to-finish, instead of little chunks.
The good news is that I do like what I have written. I think there’s a good, entertaining story there that’s emerging.
But the bad news is that I did feel like my inner-critic was super loud as I was reading. More so than ever. I wonder if that’s a result of the vacation I took from writing?
One of the things I couldn’t stop doing was thinking about how certain people would react to what I wrote.
Stylistically, I wondered if it was too elementary, too immature. I didn’t know if people would get what I was trying to do from a narrator’s point-of-view.
Content-wise, I wondered if some of it would be considered offensive. The tone of the book can be mocking and sarcastic at times. I mean it in good fun, but if people reading identify with some of the characters or experiences, will they be insulted?
Structurally, I wonder if the elements I’m adding are interesting enough. They are interesting to me, but do they make the story drag on? Am I focusing too much on monotonous bits and too little on the exciting parts?
A story is all about what you choose to focus on — and what you choose to leave out.
I have this whole world in my mind and all these facts and details and ideas, but I can’t include them all. And it’s not just about what I include, but how I include certain elements. It makes all the difference, it defines the flow and the intrigue.
I know this is a first draft and I know that this story will keep evolving as I write it, but of course, I have these concerns. I want it to be good. I want it to be cohesive and exciting and entertaining and witty.
Today, I’ll allow myself to think about these critiques but tomorrow, I’ll get back to writing and just letting the story unfold. Maybe subconsciously I’ll find solutions to some of these issues. Maybe they will dissipate.
It’s not so much that I don’t want to think about this book from the POV of a reader — it’s just that it’s too early to be thinking that way too much. The refining, the honing — that’ll all come in due time.
For now, I want to be free to explore the world I’m creating without thinking too much about how other people will interpret it.
I mean, isn’t that what makes writing fun? I have to remember first and foremost that I’m writing the book that I’d like to read. I’m exploring more of a world that I am intrigued by. And once I figure out what that is, then I can be concerned about inviting other people in.