Danger Ahead

There is a danger to posting excerpts from former (and still unfinished) NaNo novels.

With the first one, Driving Into Forever, I got the irresistible urge to go back and rewrite the darn thing. I say rewrite because it’s such a mess I think it would be easier to start from scratch than try to fix it. The next one, Forever and For Always, had me wondering why I’ve let it sit so long. And this last one, the Faery Heart, made me nostalgic for this epic Science Fiction Romance universe I’d created.

I need to get Blood Ties finished first.

Then I need to get An Elemental Spirit done.

Then I can go on to other things with a clear conscience. But man, oh, man, is it ever tempting to work on all of them at once! And what’s worse with the Faery Heart is that I couldn’t resist reading the whole thing and I remember what else needs to be included and I’m wondering where the notes are for it. I distinctly remember the way a couple of scenes were worded that come after where I left off, but they weren’t included in the document file. So where are they? Should I rewrite them as best I can recollect just to make sure I don’t forget them? Should I spend some time hunting around on USB keys and various hard copy files to see if I can find them?

You see the danger I’m in.

And I fear it’s only going to get worse. This week’s excerpt will be from Quest of the Valkyrie, which replaced Knightsong in my 2010 NaNo, and which starts the whole epic science fiction universe series. It’s the first of a projected trilogy, as the Faery Heart is, and did I mention that the whole Elemental series takes place in that universe?

Must edit faster.

Must write faster.

And that’s the good news. I have a renewed desire to buckle down to work.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Wordage Report

New Words:

Driving Into Forever (rewrite) – 1,644
Blog Posts – 880 +484+605+1557=3526
Total = 5,170

Even if you take away the excerpt from Friday’s post, I did better word-wise than I have in ages.

Editing:

According to my trusty little TraxTime program, I spent 8 hours and 22 minutes editing Blood Ties last week, plus about an hour last night after I’d already written and scheduled this post. Finally! I’m making progress.

Publishing:

None. And my mermaid story was rejected *insert sad face here*. Seeing as I haven’t really been making any effort at publishing, I might just set this one aside for now.

What I’m Reading:

I received The Jackal, by J.R. Ward, in the mail this week, but I haven’t cracked it open yet. I made it through about three quarters of Troll’s-Eye View, the anthology edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, before I started jonesing for an actual novel. So then I did a stupid thing. I picked up a Nora Roberts book, but not just any book, no. I picked up the first in her Chronicles of The One series, Year One

And of course I couldn’t just leave it there, I also read Of Blood and Bone, and The Rise of Magicks as well. I love me some end of the world as we know it scenario, and this one was well done. And it also struck a little close to home seeing as it started with a swift spreading pandemic. You know, sort of like Stephen King’s The Stand, and sort of like what’s going on in the world around us.

I find it kind of interesting that both authors show how a world-wide crisis brings out both the best and the worst in people, just like it’s doing in reality. But unlike reality, both fictional stories are ultimately the fight of good against evil. And though there are certainly similarities, both stories are very different.

It just goes to show you that authors can have the same idea and totally different approaches to it.

Goals

While I’m not unhappy with the progress I made last week, I could have done better. Part of it wasn’t my fault though. The hubby was laying new flooring in the hallway outside my office, so although I spent some time in there, it was a little distracting when I was.

I had my best week so far editing Blood Ties, but I don’t feel like I’m making a lot of progress. There’s this one scene I’m stuck on – writing and rewriting – and it’s starting to annoy me. If I was writing, I’d just skip it and move on, but I’m editing and this is one of the things I have to fix.

I gave up on the note taking for Driving Into Forever and I dove right into rewriting it. Rewriting makes better sense than just editing because I have about 5 or 6 different beginnings to it and I think that’s why I never got anywhere with fixing it. I need to settle on one and stick with it.

This Week’s Goals

1. Keep up the good work editing
2. Keep working on Driving Into Forever
3. Limit my reading time.

This is where you cross your fingers for me.