I am over 18,000 words, aka 67 pages
into my third novel. This particular book stems from an idea I had about a year
ago during a ten minute ride home from the grocery store. In those ten minutes
the entire backbone of the novel came to me as well as almost all the main
characters. The location of the story, which is as pivotal as the
people who populate it, was the wow factor and ah ha moment of impetus. It was
a few days after the idea hit that I realized, I have driven by the location
hundreds of times in the past ten years. Sublimely I think the seed was
planted. Sublimely the message finally broke through the day I had to get the ice cream home and in the freezer before it melted.
Having the story, as they say, pop
into my head so completely and so quickly, had me working over the last year in
fits and starts without true commitment. But because I pass the location at least once a week and
sometimes more when I food shop, it’s been hounding me to keep on, keeping on. Seven days into this new writing relationship, the amount of words I am producing per day are impressive. I'm waiting for the blush of the honeymoon to fade but hoping the passion will endure.
So I’m back at it, loving the
process of creation. Will I finish, will this be the breakthrough into fiction
I have been seeking? Who knows? With all the other writing I do, and my column deadlines
which loom like continuous gestational due dates trip me up, who knows? Because I have written two books which are
dangerously close to being drawer novels I wonder if the time involved is worth
the effort. Who knows? But I will dance as long as my feet hold out, or should I
say, write until my hands fall off.
All I know is that after I put my
ice cream in the freezer a year ago I sat down at my keyboard and wrote the
query for the book. In a year I have barely changed a word. It still stands as
my talisman, my focus, my one page outline, contents and synopsis path. More
than a query maybe it’s my fiction mission statement.
Have you ever written the query
first?
I had not, and I fear if I had, I'd still be sitting here sans agent.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, 18,000 words and 67 pages - wow! Keep going!
We are close to the same point - well - except I've been there with this third book of mine twice now. I can't seem to get 100 solid pages. It's driving me crazy. At this point I feel I ought to just try to keep going and get the shitty first draft laid down. IDK.
Also, and most importantly, I just wanted to say I'm sorry for your family's loss. It sounds like a very sad story and 31 is much much too young...
OMG Donna the loss is immense. Thank you for mentioning it. She was/is my son-in-laws sister.
ReplyDeleteKarin was a very successful blogger here in CT and an amazing writer on Huffington Post, plus many more publications. I still can't link stuff so if you are interested, go to Huffington Post and enter Karin Diamond in the search-box. Though she was very sick and knew her battles were many, her insight and willingness to share the importance of what life is all about is amazing.
Hey I just got into that discussion over on Averil's blog about education. You and I have husbands in the same business.
Could you really stop, even if you wanted to? Writers just have this thing that drives them.
ReplyDeleteJennine, you were the one a while back that reminded me how enthusiastic I was about this story when I came up with it. My biggest problem has been committing to it because of the time it takes to not only complete it, but edit, find an agent, blah, blah, blah. I'm not getting any younger.
DeleteMany times your words echoed in my head, "remember how enthusiastic you were, remember, remember...
Update, one day later, 21,000, 71 pages.
ReplyDeleteI'm on fire.