Second Draft: Can’t wait to get started!

Posted inWorks by Eric, Writing
For six weeks I've been sitting on the finished first draft of a dystopian science fiction novel. I had a goal of finishing it by last New Year's Eve, met the goal, and then set it aside. The idea was to take a break so that when I returned to it for rewrites, I'd be doing so with fresh eyes and renewed energy for the project. And right now, I'm chomping at the bit for a return. I'm not sure why, exactly. I have a lot of work to do on the second draft. A LOT of work. I'm talking…

The Unexpected Death Scene

Posted inWriting
So I'm writing last night, plugging away at my work in progress. Working on this major action sequence, a series of four or five brief chapters that (hopefully) string together like a Spielberg setpiece. Think the truck scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark meets Minority Report and you have the idea. And right in the middle of it, this character ... he died. I didn't expect him to die. Hadn't included it in my outline. Hadn't plotted for it. But he's there and this situation arises and I realized as I was writing, "He's not going to make it,…
When your own stories surprise you

When your own stories surprise you

Posted inWriting
I've already mentioned that I'm working on a dystopian science fiction novel. It will be, I hope, Philip K. Dick meets George Orwell thrust into a Stephen Spielberg film. That's the aim, at least. I've had some rough nights where the words just don't want to come (and those that do are crap), and other nights when things click and I'm at the edge of my seat, wondering what's going to happen to our protagonists. Wait, shouldn't I know what's going to happen to my characters? Well, yes and no. I'm writing with an outline, but it's pretty loose. It's…

The novel chugs along

Posted inRandom Musings, Writing
Since vowing last Thursday that I would finish the first draft of my dystopian science fiction novel by the end of the year -- a ridiculous vow, considering all else I'm juggling on a daily basis -- I've averaged just at the maximum end of what I need to average to get it finished. In doing so, I've slammed out a couple of chapters, wrote my way through a three-chapter action set piece, and figured out a plot puzzle that had been vexing me. Wrote myself into a corner while I was at it, but I'm sure that will work…

GOAL: finish my novel by Dec. 31

Posted inWriting
Amid all these other projects, one of my goals this year was to finish the dystopian science fiction novel I've been working on. My progress has been unsteady, but it is moving forward. I'm roughly 25,000 words into it. But that's not far enough. I need to get the first draft finished by the end of this year. That's my personal goal. So I'm calling myself out. First draft finished before the end of the year. If I do not do that, I suck. That is my deadline. First draft, end of the year. Deadline. I am committed to doing…