This is sort of a stream of consciousness post….about what is happening with the writing in week one, as it happens. It is a bit of a mess, but it is my brain right now…..
Monday/Tuesday
This is week one of working on the UnNamed. I finally decided which novel to write. I’m going to finish the second fantasy book I started in the world of Zaubrie (working name). I had dreamed about an all knew character after finishing the first book, but that book had too many characters already. So, I wrote up four chapters of his story, then set it aside. I’m not sure why I stopped writing novels, but I did. So, yesterday, I edited and re-wrote the first four chapters….and thought of a totally new idea for the same world. And, of course, that’s what I’m writing today. A totally new story, that uses the first two books I wrote as sort of side stories.
Anyway, the new novel idea is to move it from a coming of age story, to a story about those that protected those coming of age in this time of the demon arrival. The first book had a group of 10 People coming of age, with a ranger protecting eight of them for a large part of the book. The second book had a 17 year old protecting a 16 year old, but I think instead the one sent to kill the 16 year old is actually going to protect them. So, I am writing about the assassin sent to kill a 16 year old, and I’ll take what I wrote about the ranger and re-write it to be about her. That leaves a god worshipper and someone that works with the spirits of the world to come into my head….
First draft of first chapter of the Assassin’s story is done. 838 words. Is that long?
Wednesday
It is the Wednesday after the US election of 2020. Let’s just say I’m not thrilled with all the outcomes, and keep politics out of this….but, as expected, what I wrote today was DARK. Like, the second sentence reads
No one likes killing kids, but the alternative is worse.
That said, I kind of like the strong emotions the new beginning will cause in a reader, and I’m tempted to keep it. We’ll see, I guess, when I write like a madman tomorrow…..
Thursday
It’s Thursday morning…..and I kind of like the new, dark, beginning I wrote yesterday. It is staying. Now to re-write the old beginning to better match that, and write about 2000 more words, hopefully more. We’ll check back in a few hours and see how it is going….Dang, it is lunch time, and I’ve barely finished a word…..about 50 new words. Sigh. The election is distracting, even though I KNOW it isn’t yet over. Need to eat, though….So, after that I’ll get down to it. I’m liking this so far. An assassin. Who knows he’s doing the right thing, but doesn’t like it.
Friday and the Weekend
Sure, I golfed on Friday instead of writing…..I guess I could have written in the morning, but again, was distracted by the election results and the stock market (I do some short term trading as a hobby / money maker). My wife and I finished the Haunting of Hill House Friday night, so that was out also…..then I spent Saturday cleaning up the garden and binge watching cooking shows (and eventually watching a movie with my wife). Sunday we had another couple over to celebrate the election (we all sat outside). So, no writing on Sunday. However, I did a ton of thinking about what the story could be, and I am jotting those ideas down…..
So, week 1 was kind of a boom and bust! Boom in that I picked the story, and bust that I got only 2K or so words written (I am aiming for that every day). That’s kind of my brain, kind of a look at the process right now. Week two will have more on process (and more progress). I think.