So I write a short draft and then I flesh it out later--some on my own, and some with the excellent help of my fabulous editor. That's my process and I'm comfortable with that.
Only this time it's different.
I'm currently working on my third to-be-published novel, a mermaid story tentatively called FORGIVE MY FINS. I'm getting pages done every day (like today I wrote 16 pages--and I might write more tonight), but it seems like every time I move forward in the story the ending moves farther away. Like how for the last three days I've been trying to get to the next major turning point. I'll think, "Okay, I should get there in 20 pages." And then I'll write 15 pages--two scenes--and I'll realize, "That turning point is still 20 pages away." The finish line keeps moving.
I feel like I knew how far away The End was, but every day it moves a little farther into the distance. It's like if you were driving cross-country and suddenly the continent stretched to make your drive twice as long. I know I'm still going in the right direction; it's just going to take me longer to get there.
Maybe it's because my editor and I did so much brainstorming before and I won't have to do as much revising after. That's what I keep telling myself.
In any event, I think the Freeze Tag scene is a keeper, so I'm going with it.
Hugs,
TLC
2 comments:
Oh you give me hope. I'm like you, my first drafts come in shorter than I plan. But as I go through I add more and more. Then I take out the first 4-5chapters because they're now all backstory, so i have more to put back... but it works. I don't know why I don't just write the final draft the first time.. actually I do, I don't really know what's going to happen in the end until I get there and then realise I have to go back to the start to make sure it all flows.
Glad I'm not the only one in this boat.
Never lose hope, Natalie! (That's the key to succeeding in this business, after all.) And I guarantee that every writer out there has a different process, sometimes the same writer changes processes with each book. You just have to do what you have to do to get the story told.
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