I normally make this post on Saturdays now, but as I’m traveling this weekend and may not have the time, I figured I’d post it tonight.  Besides, it’s been a productive evening.

Everything feels like it’s clicking into place now, which after months of frustration is elating.  I’ve finally gotten to the point where I find myself wanting to write.  I want to work on my work-in-progress more than I want to do anything else, and it’s fantastic.  Needless to say, I got a lot done this week.  Here’s what I’ve been up to:

The Pioneer

As of this evening, I’m pleased to report that revision of phase one is complete.  As I’d anticipated, the revision got easier as I worked my way through the chapters, to the point where I didn’t have to do much once I got to the final chapter.  I feel really, really good about what I have now.  It’s compelling, with formative chapters that not only introduce characters and the overall plot but suck the reader into the story.  A friend who read the revised versions of the first few chapters said it made her want to see what happened next.  I can’t think of a greater compliment one can pay a novelist.

Next up, of course, is phase two.  I hope to begin phase two this weekend, though we’ll see whether or not that happens.  Either way, I have extensive notes to go on, and I’m looking forward to introducing the planet on which most of the action will take place, as well as my main characters.

This has been a lot of fun so far.  It feels so good to be writing something I’ve wanted to write for so long, and to be thoroughly enjoying the process.  I’ll admit writing phase one as it stands now was a somewhat emotional experience at times: bringing such a treasured concept to life at last.  With each sentence of text, each new section of notes, I find myself getting to know this story, enriching it, and I love where it’s taking me.  While I do believe Wide Horizon was an important first step, this is the story I’ve always wanted to tell, and I feel it’s one that needs to be told.  And one cannot put a price on that feeling.

Wide Horizon

While I didn’t do any physical work on Wide Horizon this week, I feel like I should at least find one other project to talk about.

As I’ve said, the submission period for Pitch Wars is approaching, and though I have nearly a month before submissions open, between The Pioneer consuming my efforts and the ideas I’ve toyed around with for altering Wide Horizon, I find myself keenly aware of just how little time remains.

There are two primary changes I’m considering.  One of them would require very little reworking, while the other would represent a paradigm shift in the story.

The first change involves addressing a plot device that has come to feel canned, even hokey.  Upon reaching the first planet they visit, the crew of the Wide Horizon finds the planet scoured by the Others, completely devoid of life.  However, as they’re wondering how they might ever find human survivors beyond the confines of the Lock, a member of the crew tells them about a list of potential human holdouts.  The more I think about this, the more it feels like a hollow deus ex machina.  I have a lot of those in Wide Horizon, and though most of them work well given the background of the story, this one has come to feel particularly silly.  Changing the story as I’ve considered doing would not only require minimal effort and shore up the plot, but could also save me pages of text.  Given the story’s cumbersome length, that’s a serious bonus.

The other potential change pertains to the story’s resolution.  As it stands now, the resolution of the story is almost miraculous, and while I liked it for quite some time, after several comments on the subject I’ve considered a more compelling, albeit less clean and happy ending.  Doing so would require substantial reworking, not to mention subsequent revision and potentially editing.  While it would change the story considerably, I’m far more concerned with time.  With the Pitch Wars deadline looming at the end of the month, I may not have enough time to write a new ending, clean it up, and have everything ready for submission.

Suffice to say I have more than a few difficult decisions to make, and if I’m going to do this those decisions must be made over the coming week.  While such decisions cannot be taken lightly, with every passing day I risk being left with no choice but to proceed with what I have, however strong or weak it is.  Part of me feels I could always make these changes later, should my story not be well-received in Pitch Wars or subsequent attempts at submission.  But I’ve told myself from the start that if I’m going to do this, I’m going to do it right.  When I begin shopping Wide Horizon for publication, I’d like to do so knowing that I’m putting the best possible product out there.

 

As I’ve said, I’m not sure how much writing I’ll be doing this weekend, but hopefully I’ll at least manage a thousand words or so of something.  In addition to my customary Monday posts, I’ll likely be returning to my weekly Reading Day on Monday as well.  Until then, keep reading, and dare to dream. – MK