Yesterday was a very strange day for me, and here's why:
1) The first 500 words of THE REFUGEE were critiqued on the wonderful Aimee Salter's blog, and I received some fantastic advice. I've got some polishing to do, and I'll be undertaking that soon.
2) I also passed the climax of THE REFUGEE. Granted, technically I passed it a year ago, but as I'm rewriting the whole bloody book, it's a huge milestone. I'll hopefully finish sometime this week, then it's off to some beta readers!
But first, I have to go revise the beginning.
Sometimes I feel as though I'm working in this gigantic loop. Naturally my writing improves as I get deeper into the novel, so that by the time I'm finished, I look back at the beginning and think it's trash. So of course I have to start over again, and so on and so forth. One of these days I just need to be done with it.
Though I've tried that too.
For awhile I loathed THE REFUGEE. Absolutely hated it. I wanted to forget about it, and start something new. Something fresh. But then I mentioned it to a friend, and they told me it sounded like a cool concept. So I took it out of the desk drawer, and started to revise.
Still hated it. Back in the drawer.
Then came another friend, and another bit of encouragement.
This has happened so many times, I've lost count. And now I finally haves something I'm satisfied with. Something I'm serious about. But I'm also drained, and though I look forward to some fine-tuning, part of me wants to move on.
This is a lot the same of how I feel about my book (my 500 will be posted on Friday I think). Well, I didn't hate it, but the thought of the massive revisions needed made me squeamish. In fact I've already rewritten a lot of my first chapter, but I'm still looking forward to your feedback on the first 500 words. I'm just glad to know we writers all go through this. Thanks for posting this!
ReplyDeleteKnowing that we writers aren't alone does make it easier. I look forward to reading your first 500!
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