I realized today that I am nearly half way through my first draft! (Insert applause here.) I have finally hit the part of the book where things starting happening faster...where things start to take on a life of their own. I have had to try to keep pace with my brain. I have had to draw maps, make family trees, create time lines...all in an effort to keep up with momentum I feel building.
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| This map is neither Here nor There...this is simply an old map I found, but I thought it had character so here it is. |
I have contemplated creating a few different pages here...perhaps a character page, or maybe an image of one of the hand-drawn maps I have created (quite unlike the Neither Here-nor-There Map which I randomly inserted above merely for effect)... I find myself wanting to make the world I am creating as real for those who gather here as it is in my own mind.
The further I get into my book, the more real it becomes. I realize that I am less than a year away from giving everyone access to this thing that has been rattling around in my head. This excites me and terrifies me. But, before I can get carried away in that possibility, I make myself return to reality...
My reality, right now, is the cool breeze that comes in through the open window and rifles my pages, the smell of hot tea which tends to go cold before I remember to drink it, and the purr of a languid cat who bats at my pencil as it scratches across the page.
Today, I made it to 130 pages. I hope to write a bit longer before I tuck it all away for the day. I know there will be more fights ahead, more betrayal, and abandonment. I know what lies ahead and (to be quite honest) there are parts I am not eager to write...but this is how we get from Here to There.
It's always a truggle making your characters suffer. I tend to put too much of my own personality into them for my own good, which makes it even harder.
ReplyDeleteI had not thought of it like that, but there is more than a little truth in that! Hmmm...make writing seem a bit like punishment when you think of it in those terms.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah... like in dreams, Ginger. Every character in your book is you. ;)
ReplyDeleteMy characters are going through some crap right now, too. I'm starting to wonder if my story is too dismal! :}
WHHHATTT? What are you THINKING? Why would you ever think that a series of books about a Dark Lord trying to kill a boy wizard (and oh-so-many others) would be too dismal? Oh. What? That's not you? Oh...well, ok then. Then why would you believe that a book about young girl being forced into an arena to fight for her life while the world watches, and who can only live if she kills all the others, would be too dark? Oh? Again, not you? Hm...well, if nothing else, you are in good company! ;)
Delete*slumps back in relief* Oh, well, thank the GODS for that. There may be hope for me yet.
ReplyDelete