Short Update
WIP Update
This is just a quick update since I didn’t make a post last Wednesday and I refuse to miss two weeks in a row. First off, for the first time in over a decade I have a laptop, and already my production has increased. Though admittedly this is the first thing I’m typing on it so far.
Now, as to my WIP… I have been having a lot of issues with second guessing myself. Partially due to my master’s classes which have had me reading a lot more and over-analyzing things. To that end I have decided to write a new version of my prologue and se how that fits into the piece better. I am also getting some feedback that perhaps I am being overly ambitious for this book. As it is currently outlined it will be a pretty large tome and a hard sell for a debut author (yes I know I have a book already published but that is through a small press and this book is being written in the hopes of landing an agent and then a traditional publishing contract. And this blog is partially about that journey including my thoughts and fears.)
New Prologue and POV thoughts:
The new prologue is written to provide more of a glimpse of what awaits at the end of the book, and by “end” I mean the last third of the book not the final scene. It means adding an extra POV to the Prologue, thus introducing two different prologues that only exist in a single chapter of the book [though a post or two back I did mention plans to put the other single POV into an epilogue chapter, so now I have to think about whether I want to do the same with this new POV.
And speaking of POVs… there has been a crisis with my planned outline for the book. I originally planned to write my novel in a Martin Style, that is each chapter as a single POV and every chapter you get a different pov as I cycle through 5 main characters. This has a couple of issues. First, two of my POVs travel together as a duo, and they form and interesting dynamic, so when I come to a chapter with them in it its pretty much a flip of coin which pov to use. Unless I need one of their unique perspectives or I want to hide certain details. So that right there means I’m on a four-way cycle. But then we come to my 5th POV, and he is meant to have only a limited amount of screen time, especially in the first half of the book. To be honest his POV works best as addendums in other POV’s chapters, at least until the last half of the book where he is finally on his own major tory arc and not just mysterious figure.
To add to the problem, I started reading some new Epic Fantasy novels (I have barely read any fiction over the last two years with all my time being spent doing school and reading non-fiction). These books of course handle multiple POVs very differently and seeing how they handled it I felt it was more… natural. The fact that this book is also published by my main goal publisher (and no I will not tell it here who that is) and it makes me feel like perhaps the Martin method might not be the right way to write my book.
Indecision:
That leaves me with a ton of hand wringing and indecision. I currently have 7 chapters written and 3 versions of prologues (though the 3rd version is merely started not finished) in the WIP… and if I want to change up the POV and abandon my Martin-style then I have to rewrite the whole thing… which at this point is far better than doing it down the road. It really comes down to whether I want a book with a hundred sort chapters or 30 very long chapters, but the flexibility in longer thematic chapters is enticing.
And this is where the struggle really, I in writing. The agony of overthinking and second guessing and playing with the technical blocks behind the scenes can completely overwhelm you. And if you suffer from procrastination, or are one of those writers that have to be dragged to the keyboard, than these little things can start to become habitual.
Updates on Masters and This Summer.
So, I am almost at the end of my first master’s term and it has been a blast. I kind of do wish I had picked a low residency class as getting together with people and having a good time and writing in groups would be a great experience. But it is what it is, and I like my school a lot.
Besides, as this goes live on my website, I will be starting my vacation, which is a trip to Rhode Island to enjoy my favorite writer’s conference, NECON. Necon is very special and dear to me. It is like a family reunion every summer, where horror writers from all over New England and further abroad come together to drink, talk, and have a great time. This is my 10th year in a row! I can’t wait to catch up with all my peers.
Short Post
I am going to try and get Sunday’s TORG post written and scheduled to post, but there might be a missed post. We shall see how tomorrow plays out.
Sorry for a short post, I have shared some thoughts and progress with my current novel and some of my inner thoughts and have mentioned my classes and favorite conference. }},{k