I’ve reached the half-half-way point in the first draft of my latest novel project. The hook has hooked, the world has been built, the stakes have been made clear, and the protagonist has been made interesting. The first major plot-point just went down, changing the protag’s world forever and presenting a new set of risks and stakes (“I’ll come with you to Alderaan. There’s nothing more for me here.”)
OK, none of that has happened. That’s what’s supposed to happen, though, and the framework is there. Feel the power of Revision!
It’s just such a massive task. Write out several tens of thousands of words, knowing that they’re crap and hoping you’ll tear them all apart later to make them good. Especially with my habit of catching an hour of writing when I can, this is going to take forever. Spirit flags.
I’m finding that if I think about this project as fan fiction, it’s easier for me keep my spirits up. I have limitless energy for piecing together the bits of other people’s work — would the child of a firebender and a sandbender be a glassbender? — and applying that same level of nerd intensity to my own little built world makes climbing that mountain seem a little easier.
