Some stories, I believe, deserve to be finished. I have stacks and stacks of what I lovingly call UFOs, my favorite unfinished objects. As any writer knows, going through old works can be the very definition of mixed blessing. Sometimes we uncover gems. More often than not, we uncover pieces of writing that make us cringe in a lot of places. But shake the dust off those pieces, and there are kernels of good work hiding.
I recently dusted off something I started four years ago. Wanting to see if it still held any merit, I sat down to read. Aside from some grammatical conventions that really made me shudder, I realized it wasn’t bad. I spent the bulk of the day yesterday rereading (and changing all those annoying punctuation quirks) before deciding to sleep on things. Is the story salvageable? I think so. Knowing more than I knew then, I can see where changes need to be made, where antagonists need to be introduced, and where the meat of things needs to be plumped up. It feels like a go to me, and I believe with these modifications I can almost double the length and make it workable. The bigger question is whether or not I can recapture the mood and the intent from the past and make it work with what I’ve become in the present.
I know what I’ll be working on this January!
In the meantime, as a first-time published author, I can’t go without mentioning a few things here.
- Being published is fun!
- Check out the book! Available on Amazon.
- While you’re there, please take a moment to “like” the page.
- If this makes you long for a $25 Amazon gift certificate, you can enter to win one courtesy of Dragonthology and Untold Press.
- We also have a blog tour, starting with WordPress’ very own Julie Campbell.
There we have it. Happy 2013! May your year be filled with creativity!
Dreaming in Character 
January 6, 2013 at 10:08 am
That’s the biggest reason I keep all my random snippets and ideas. “Remembering Lena” was born out of one of those discarded snippets because the idea, the premise of it, stuck with me. And then you wouldn’t believe how much I’ve repurposed in writing other stories. “Portrait of a Butterfly” was a great example. I took the original flash fic, threw in that opening with Rohth and Aysha talking about Casal glimmering—both pieces I already had, and then the rest just flowed out from there. Now, I’ve just got to figure out how to pay for the full version of Scrivener because it’s a lot easier to dig through snippets kept in one place than a plethora of file folders, PDA memos, and random bits of paper. :shakes head at self:
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January 6, 2013 at 6:23 pm
I like “Remembering Lena.” You have such an imagination!
Maybe I’m lucky, but I’ve never had that much trouble finding all those notes and snippets and random bits of things when I’ve wanted to go back and revisit them, but for one time. That was a frustrating experience. I’ve heard enough people talking about Scrivener that maybe I ought to give it a look. Lately I’ve been using Google Docs not because it’s an outstanding word processor, but because it’s accessible to me from wherever I might be. I still always back things up to my own space, but it’s nice to have access to it all when I travel.
This new-old one will be coming your way eventually. It needs work first. I’m also balking at one more chapter on Denny’s story, and the amount of pushback I’m giving myself makes me think it’s not even necessary. Do I listen to my gut or force myself to write it first and see if I like it?
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January 6, 2013 at 8:12 pm
Wait a few more days then see if it’s still pushing back. If it is, try without it.
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January 6, 2013 at 8:18 pm
I’ll see how it goes. I think I’m at war with myself. Part of me doesn’t want to be done. Part of me knows I already am.
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January 6, 2013 at 8:39 pm
Ah. You can write a sequel or just pry the fingers off and let it go.
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January 6, 2013 at 8:42 pm
…or give him the twitter account he’s been asking for!
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January 6, 2013 at 9:13 pm
LOL
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