I'm working on the second draft of my WWII historical novel right now and just finished with chapter one last night. I've definitely noticed a difference in the way I'm writing this novel as compared to my last one. Of course, I had worked on my last novel, Possession, for nearly five years. Yes, you heard me right. Five years. And in those five years, I learned so much on the writing craft that I had to constantly revise it to make it work. And by the time I had revised and revised, I was so deep into it that I simply couldn't put it aside and work on something else because darn it, if I had invested this much time into it, I was going to FINISH it and FINISH IT RIGHT.
Whew. End of ramble.
But now, Possession is done. Finished. And I can't tell you how thrilled I am to be working on something else.
Have you ever had a project that just wouldn't stop? Did you force yourself to finish it or just abandon it altogether?
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What a Difference a Day (or Two) Made...
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All right. Enough with the down-in-the dumps posts. I realized that I had way too many of them in the past few weeks and I am bumming myself...
I am suffering the same malady myself. The more I learn about the craft of writing, the more I go back and revise my WIP. I'd like to say enough already, but I suppose I won't finish writing it till I can write it perfectly. I'll get back to you in 2055.
ReplyDeleteWhat are you doing with POSSESSION right now? Have you sent it out?
Oh yes! I can relate. But I'm trying to tell myself it's OKAY to let the story go. Easier said with contemporaries than historicals! :)
ReplyDeleteI really, really admire and envy your perseverance. The longest I've ever worked and re-worked on a manuscript was seven months. Then I tossed it aside because it wouldn't get right.
ReplyDeleteBut I do wish I had that perseverance and patience because nowadays, I'll toy with something for about a month or two and then scrap it if it won't get its act together--ignoring the writer's block and general procrastination that comes along with the aforementioned frustrations.
>.<
But congratulations on the completion of your manuscript!!
Nienke - the agent who requested the full ultimately said it "was almost there" but didn't ask for revisions. I've shelved it for now. :-)
ReplyDeleteSince it's officially the 15th - Happy Birthday Melissa.
ReplyDeleteOh god yes! I've been working on Outlaw Bride for almost 3 years now. Its gone thru so many morphs and changes its a whole different book from when I started, although the basic premise remains intact. Like you I learned so much when I started writing it. I joined RWA and my local chapter just shortly after starting it, so the wealth of education i received in that time really changed the scope of the book and how I wrote in general. Now with the new series I'm working on the difference is immeasurable and the flow soooo much better. I finished the first draft of book 1 in under 6 months. As opposed to 2 years for TOB.
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