Becoming the writer I want to be

I drafted a query letter and looked at resources on the topic. I didn't count that time as helping my quota.

I did succeed at putting more than two hours work into the manuscript. I'm happy with the first 5 chapters, about 19,000 words.

I have cuts thousands of words out each revision. My overall word count is probably in the mid 70k range at this point. I want to add to the end of the story, so I'm shooting for 80-90k when it's done.

 

1282 words today, making good progress on this chapter.

 

Didn't get to work on the novel this morning as I intended, but I did finish editing my third article and at 2070 words, it's now been submitted to the editor and it awaits his approval. I'm going to check emails this morning, work on an essay I'm developing, and try to find out and see if I've got the internship I've applied for.

 

Couldnt sleep last night. Decided to delete the prologue. Everything revealed had been added to the early chapters, so it was a security blanket. I spent countless hours crafting every single word, so it was tough to say goodbye.

I need to rework the first few pages now.

It's starting to feel like the manuscript that will only be done when it's a 580 word short story lol.

 

1039 words today. The chapter might be done tomorrow but its more likely going to be Friday.

 

4,564 words. I fulfilled my old quota this morning and I intend to work on the chapter both tomorrow and Friday, where it should finally be finished then!

Editing will commence next week.

 

The 1st chapter now reads like it's trying to grab the reader. It's funny how deleting a couple of sentences and adding a few words changes the feel of a piece.

I'm trying to pick back up with the rewrite in chapter 6. There have been too many changes. The reason for the edits is to clean it up and focus on plot points, so getting lost won't help.

I'm note carding the what I call the intro (the first 17,000 words) and Middle 1. My time quota was already met before work started but I'm on fire again.

I made goals for a reasonable timeline to complete the novel and start querying. I think I can get there by early March.

 

A while back I mentioned I wanted to write a 4th book in my sci-fi series that dealt with loose threads left at the end of the trilogy. I've made the decision to not go ahead with this book, or at least not in the form I currently envision it taking.

My decision stems from four main points;

First of all, I genuinely dont think there is enough material to make it worth taking the time to plan out a 4th book, only to write what is essentially a 300-400 page detour that takes the characters back to where they could have been at the end of book 3 if I just tweaked the end of that a tiny bit. I dont want to say its outright pointless, because from a worldbuilding perspective the book would be rewarding for hardcore readers, but that brings me onto my second point.

The hypothetical 4th book would be too dependent on people being interested in the deep lore and would most likely have to be indulgent and slow by design to offer the same depth and breadth the other books offer. Its either that or have it be a novella, basically an extended epilogue. I dont like either option honestly, and would rather just cut out the best ideas, fit them into the trilogy, and then have that be that. I dont want to alienate people invested in the plot and characters of the trilogy by making them read a book so totally different in tone and plot to see what happens to one of the protagonists in the end.

Also, I dont really have much real interest in writing this story anymore. When I first started planning the trilogy the stuff from the 4th book was a massive part of it. Then I realised it didn't fit without undermining a lot of the rest of the plot, so I slowly phased out everything that wasn't either cool enough to be left in simply on that metric, or was actually relevant to the plot (these two points tended to go hand in hand.) I've become more invested in what I ended up writing than what I planned to write in the first place and would rather focus more on those aspects as opposed to stuff I dont care too much about just because I thought it was cool a year ago.

Finally, as well as not feeling like I want to tell this story anymore, I physically dont feel like I have the passion to write it all out. I have ideas for other stories that take place in the same world that interest me MUCH more, and make more sense as true sequels as opposed to weird indulgent spinoffs. I also have ideas for things that are entirely separate, it might be refreshing to write a very short novel next for example just for the change of pace. Something not sci fi perhaps.

I would love to hear your guys input on this. Do you think this is the right call?

 

I don't have an expert opinion to share, just my own lol. A few things stood out to me and all made it sound like the right call to me:

1) You need to make this book feel different than the originals. Like you said, the original readers are not likely to enjoy the change.

2) It sounds like you would be forced to work the story too hard. That leads to things happening because you need them to. Tha never feels authentic.

3) If you aren't passionate about this project and other options are calling to you.... Game, set, match.

Perhaps the book will settle into something later, but something new in a world you've already built sounds like a less restrictive place to play.

 

Or a break if that is better. I bet you will feel more clarity soon.

 

Agreed on all points. Thank you for your input.

There is a version of book 4 that would work, and it just involves not having characters from the trilogy be the characters in it. Still set in the same world, basically the same plot, just with new people taking part in that plot. The fact this wouldn't be hard to do really indicates to me its pointless to use old characters to begin with, and the only reason to do it would be a cynical attempt to draw people in by using someone readers already know as the protagonist. Like I said before, I dont like this option.

A good way to describe what the 4th book is in relation to the trilogy is the trilogy is like Lord of the Rings and the 4th book is like the Silmarillion. One uses deep lore and heavy worldbuilding in service of a more important narrative, the other still has those things, but way more in abundance, and is obviously only written for people already heavily invested. I would not recommend a casual LOTR fan read the Silmarillion and I would not recommend a casual fan of my series read the 4th book. The obvious glaring difference though is the Silmarillion doesnt bend itself into a knot to somehow make Frodo the main character, just because he was the protagonist in the previous books.

This comparison actually explains why it would be easy to chop and change this ending pretty much right up to the point I sit down and write it. Just like LOTR, my trilogy essentially has "two endings." One ending is the main ending, the ending that deals with the conclusion of the actual plot, the triumph of the heroes, the main villain being defeated, that sort of thing. The final few chapters are epilogues that deal with what the characters do after the main plot is resolved, and while the events of the main plot obviously influence them, they also stand alone enough to be altered without having to go back and change what leads to them. This is kinda like LOTR, with Sauron being defeated several chapters before the book actually ends, and the actual ending ending being Frodo leaving Middle Earth. LOTR could have easily ended right after Sauron lost, but its nice that it didn't cause its nice to see what everyone did after the adventure was over. Thats what I'm going for with this.

In my eyes, it makes more sense to simply use the material from book 4 that I think is worth keeping in these epilogues, jettison the rest (which is most of it) and then have that be the end of it.

I definitely will. I can keep writing the rest of book 2 and 95% of book 3 without worrying about this. I only need to think about it when I get to it really.

 

819 words today, chapter nearly done.

 

Did you publish?

 

I dont think anyone on this thread has published what they are currently working on, apart from OP (if I am remembering that right, apologies to him if not) I'm currently still writing book 2 of a planned trilogy. I do plan to attempt to publish but at the moment I want to get the books done. May sound off but my primary goal is just to write because I love doing it, as opposed to treating it solely as a job.

 

Up to 4,673 words. A mere 330 words or so away from reaching 5,000 words for this chapter. I didn't get to write as much today because I woke up with a headache and lingered in bed, but if I can get rid of the headache, I may actually try to aim for completing this chapter today. We'll see how things go.

 

Hope you are feeling alright, just saw your counter had reset.

 

Well, I didn't quite reach 5000 words, but I'm at 4946 for the rough draft of the first chapter. I'm going to edit it all next week and so the word count might go down to about 4700-4800 words (hopefully). The second chapter I intend to rewrite as well and keep that at 5,000 words.

I'm feeling great now that I've gotten this chapter completed and ready to edit. It's a new beginning and I'm writing like never before. I'm determined to make that reset be the only one this one and god willing, writing will be one of the key components of making that happening.

 

You can beat your personal best by the end of the year. That would make this year very special. Go @aspiringwriter1997!

 

I had a long and busy day at work. I wasted 3 hours after. That would have more than met my minimum quota.

I'm going to shoot for an hour before bed and hope to get back after it tommorow.

Until the book is done, work, family time, or writing is how I'd like to spend almost all my time.
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I got 2 hours in, but staying up late isn't my best option.

As I resplice the timeline I keep deleting small sections. The MS is getting better but I've got an issue.

The old plot had:
Intro, middle 1, middle 2, end, falling action.

I'm going to need to add a middle 3 section that keeps building tension.