In Which Imogen Shares Where She's At With Her Writing
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Photo credit: laureltopias via Foter.com / CC BY
If you read my last post, in which I listed ten of my
resolutions for this year (which you can view HERE), then you may have seen
that one of my resolutions for 2016 is to share more about my own writing on
this blog. It’s a bit of a scary goal, because for me, it’s so much easier to
talk about writing as an abstract process than it is to share the intimate
details of my personal projects. But I am determined to give it a go. Hopefully
some of you will find these more personal posts interesting to read. So today,
I thought I’d talk a little about where I am at the moment with my writing.
After NaNoWriMo last year, I decided to take the entire
month of December off from writing. Mostly because December is the busiest time
of year what with Christmas, the school holidays, and many, many musical
commitments, but also because, after writing 175k odd words in a month, I
really needed to give myself a break from writing and creating and just let my
tired brain relax and become reinspired. And the rest was really nice, and
definitely needed. But I have to admit, by the end of the month, I was missing
writing a lot.
Now that we’re into the new year though, I’m trying to get a
start on editing one of my books again, which so far has meant pulling out my
superhero/fairytale rewrite, Snow and
reading it through, making notes as I go. It’s always quite an experience
reading through a drafts after a long time away. Sometimes a very cringe worthy
experience at that. Snow is only a
second draft, so I wasn’t expecting beautiful prose or anything like that, but
the amount of melodrama, info dumps, and exposition I can pack into even just
the first three pages is quite staggering, and frankly makes me wince to read
it. I definitely know one of the big areas I’ll be working on in this draft.
But at the same time, even though I know the writing is
terrible and half the plot still won’t make sense, I’m really excited to dive
back into this story world. Snow is
the first book in a whole series of fairy tale rewrites I have planned. It’s a
huge project, seriously. But I really love the ideas, the characters, and the
whole way I’m trying to present these fairy tales. I grin to myself every time
I manage to work another fairy tale element into the book. I have a picture in
my head of where I want these stories to go, and every word I rewrite, every
time I cringe at a melodramatic line, or stumble across another plot hole, is
getting me one step closer to reaching that goal.
So that’s where I’m at with my writing at the moment.
Progress is pretty slow as I ease my way back into writing and start slotting
it back into my schedule, but I’m enthusiastic about getting to work on editing
again, or any kind of writing really. I’m hoping to have an excerpt or two to
share in the next couple of weeks, when I get to actually editing the book
properly, so we’ll see what happens.
Where are you up to
with your writing? Do you have a book idea, or a series idea that you’re in
love with? Are you interested in reading more post like this about my personal
writing in addition to the other posts I write for this blog? Let me know in
the comments!
Also, have you taken my blogging survey yet? If you haven’t,
and you have a few minutes to spare, please consider checking out this post and
giving me some feedback on this blog. The survey is only short, and your
feedback will help me better plan what I’m going to write on this blog this
year.
12 comments
Ack, I'm in the middle of the rewriting/editing woes as well. It's a little discouraging when I think about HOW much editing I'll do this year. Oh well, it must get done. If only editing 175k was as fast as writing is, yes? :P
ReplyDeleteThat's the biggest problem with drafting so much, isn't it? It's all good fun, right up until you realise you have to edit it all. So totally worth it though, when you see the end product. Good luck with your editing this year!
DeleteI hear ya with cringing at rereads. I kind of...cheated...and didn't read through my recent WIP before I started editing. IT WAS JUST THAT BAD. hehe. And I've kind of suffered a bit for it so I won't do this again...lesson learnt. DO read-thrus even though they suck. ;D But omg 175K?!?!? YOU ARE AMAZING. *bows to your skills*
ReplyDeleteUgh, I feel your pain Cait. Rereading is the worst thing EVER! Except fixing the stupid thing maybe. That has its own personal level of anguish to it. I hope your rewriting is going well. I've been loving reading the chapters you've been posting to Wattpad. It's such a cool idea for a book!
DeleteI've just come across your blog, so nice to meet you :)) I'm always interested to know how other writers work and write (and struggle) and it's somewhat heartening to know that I'm not the only one who goes through tons of drafts. At the moment I'm working on one romantic novel set in Regency England and seriously thinking about how to rework and rewrite my fantasy one (again!) so that someone actually wanted to publish it. The best of luck to you with your writing this year!
ReplyDeleteIt's so lovely to meet you too Farida. I'm so glad you stopped to say hi. Ooh, your projects sound so interesting. I love Regency romances. It's probably my favourite time period for books, especially romances. Good luck with the revisions for your fantasy book. They always take such a lot of work to get right, don't they? Thank you for stopping to comment!
DeleteThis is a very heartening look at writing...I'm at the beginning of my writing life, and I still find it hard to fully accept the reality that book drafts -- in general -- are not great. "Perfection or Nothing" is something I am in great need of letting go.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad that you have a story you're excited about! And such a fascinating one at that!
I'm currently in the hectic "first bloom" stage: I got a sudden idea about three days ago, and I've become a fair bit obsessed. But, hey, I still have about a week left of my school break! It's shaping up to be a very complex, if not out-rightly confusing, story with (currently) five main viewpoints.
And, 175K? Amazing!
I'm so glad you feel encouraged by this post. I know it always helps me to see that other people struggle too, because writing can be so hard and so isolating sometimes, and I feel less alone in my despair when I know that other people have bad drafts or bad days, just like me.
DeleteThe first bloom stage is the best, isn't it? Though wow, five POVs? I admire you! I'm currently struggling with two, let alone any more than that. I wish you all the best with your new project. It sounds like you really love it.
It's nice to take writing breaks, huh? For me, it's just a struggle because I'm having trouble managing my time with school to write and everything... I don't know. Hopefully we can get back into the swing of things and treasure the small increments of our progress as we go.
ReplyDeleteUgh, I know the struggle of balancing all the things that need your time. It's definitely a lot about appreciating the small progress rather than expecting any big, or quick work. I think the most important thing is to keep making progress, however small. I hope things get easier for you with this struggle, because your writing is awesome.
DeleteThese are some good writing goals! I wish you the best with them. ^ ^ I'm currently working on my Red Hood series.
ReplyDeletestoritorigrace.blogspot.com
Ooh, good luck with that. I love the ideas you have for your books.
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