New Post Your Progress Thread

[N. E. White]

somewhat lame self-imposed deadlines will have to do!

That works for me.

I'm working on the third (and final) book of my Draghi Chronicle trilogy. I'm about 17k in. All is going well, but I'm struggling with whether I should kill off my main character. Not so soon, but at the end.

At the moment, the trajectory is going in that direction. She'll still accomplish her goal for this book (and the series), but the cost of achieving that goal may be her life.

I'm trying to write her out of that, but we shall see.

 

[Alan L]

That works for me.

I'm hoping it works for me too, but somehow real life keeps trying to get in the way!

At the moment, the trajectory is going in that direction. She'll still accomplish her goal for this book (and the series), but the cost of achieving that goal may be her life.

I'm still thinking about that for my antagonist. One of the things I need to do is raise him from a caricature of a villain to something deeper, but after I do that, I'll be less inclined to kill him off (as much as he richly deserves it.) At the moment his fate is arrest, imprisonment, and financial ruin. I have/had no intention of making this story part of a series, but I have a decent back-story for one of my characters that's been fermenting through the whole process of writing this story. I may have to write that at some point. She's a bit of an antihero; maybe if I do keep exploring these characters further, having an old nemesis around could be useful. Or I could go for ambiguity. Just one distant gunshot would leave things hanging.

If you're at the end of the series it's a different problem though. Your readers are going to want some closure one way or the other. I do not envy you and your dilemma.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

After the Restoration, they only ran Nate's version of King Lear, which like the source Shakespeare used, he doesn't die.
Shakespeare turned many traditional stories into Greek Tragedies.

 

[N. E. White]

Not much progress to report. I feel like the story is dragging. I might try to re-write the beginning. Maybe see if things go in a different direction. I was having trouble getting the start to work for me, so maybe I'll go back and try to revamp it a bit. Maybe. Writing is hard.

 

[EricJ]

I too am struggling. I think I've reached a point in my writing career that I don';t want to do. I do an episode for a serial fiction that I am writing (once every week), so that's writing, but not the novel I want to write. I'm translating books into Spanish with somebody who I pay, and that's been like the focus on "writing" right now. I just don't have the interest right now to write on my book, and I think as I write the post, that it's just how I should feel at the moment, than trying to force something I'm right now not interested in doing.

 

[Alan L]

Over the weekend I attended WisCon (online) and while it was full of fantastic sessions and useful information (a review of my experience is up on my blog if anyone's interested), what I really took away from the event was how much effort and how much of a struggle it will be to get the novel I'm nowhere near finishing after several years out there and in the hands of readers. This left me in a slightly depressed state of "what the f*ck is the point" for a couple of days, but I'm a persistent SOB (or a hard core masochist, or both, you decide) and I'm back on plan again. I see lots of advice from other authors that boil down to "just write and have fun" and although my definition of "fun" seems to have a much higher threshold than the average person, there's little fun in this. There will be a reward in seeing this beast come together, even though it's doing so far too slowly for my liking, but what I'm looking for is accomplishment, not fun. I want to accomplish getting this thing in print, at a level of quality I'm happy with. From there "accomplishment" will mean that people read it and enjoyed it. If maybe 150 people do that, it will be a win.

 

[N. E. White]

I too am struggling. I think I've reached a point in my writing career that I don';t want to do. I do an episode for a serial fiction that I am writing (once every week), so that's writing, but not the novel I want to write. I'm translating books into Spanish with somebody who I pay, and that's been like the focus on "writing" right now. I just don't have the interest right now to write on my book, and I think as I write the post, that it's just how I should feel at the moment, than trying to force something I'm right now not interested in doing.

It sounds like you're overwhelmed. Maybe take a break? Come back to your own writing when things settle down? You're essentially already doing that, but this way you give yourself permission to to set it aside.

 

[N. E. White]

I want to accomplish getting this thing in print, at a level of quality I'm happy with. From there "accomplishment" will mean that people read it and enjoyed it. If maybe 150 people do that, it will be a win.

That's all you can hope for.

And you're right. It is a monumental task to self-publish (or traditionally publish) a book. Don't diminish all that effort. Celebrate the progress achievements when you can.