I don’t know how to start this because I do not have a ton to say. It’s another day in this space between things. I am on the farm and, somewhat, getting the writing in. I am slowly moving through these final editing notes in order to pull together this mess of a novel into something I can be proud of putting on shelves. It is not what I wanted it to be. I’ve learned through these experiences that I do not end stories well. I need to go back to stronger outlining, because pantsing it is not for me. The last one — make that the last three were pantsers and not a one was meant to be. They started as well scripted beginnings, which devolved into hastily concluded stories that tried too hard to wrap too much up while, at the same time, seeking to grow beyond the original parameters.
This is the kind of thing that does not happen when you’re tightly scripting a plot. Perhaps that is what is making me really nervous about my Justice Engine. I have a vision of the last chapter and what I think could be a strong beginning… and nothing in between. I was hoping the general real-life structure of such things would give me a format to work with, but I realize that I am fooling myself to that extent. I need to think it through more. In truth, I need to script it through more. I should be writing out each chapter over and over again, adding a few lines each pass the way I’ve been doing with the one novel sitting on the shelf that I ought to get back to in this 26′ rotation.
First, let’s finish the one I am supposed to submit in the next few weeks. Fourteen days–that is exactly how long I have in order to get this thing done, and then it is back to waiting for the people on the editing side to do what they do. So, back to the word mines for me. I have a lot to do and a lot more to think about doing. The work is piling up and the time is winding down.
Sounds like a regular November for the Talislegger.
Some Thoughts:
- I love the idea of coming out here a few times a year and getting reset. It feels like a reset every time I am here, because this world is small and the requirements are very specific and measurable and doable. That leaves me a good amount of time to do me and do writing. I love the balance I strike out here. I don’t fall terribly far off kilter the way I do in the desert.
- If only it had a spa bath…