Ok, so I figured I was due on another update on progress. I haven’t done nearly as much as I had initially wanted or planned on. I’m only at 30% completion for draft 2 ofSoulformer. Life got a little hectic and I just sort of fell out of the rhythm I had going from the first half of this year. I also hadn’t anticipated how difficult it would be to get back into that writing rhythm. When this isn’t your profession and you have a full-time job, a family with small children, and other important obligations in life, it can be hard to sit down at the end of the day when you’re exhausted and write.
I had also heard that revision can be pretty difficult, and I definitely believe it now. The prospect of going back to something that is no longer new and essentially rewriting it to be slightly different (and hopefully much better in terms of establishing character, revamping the flow of the plot, etc.) is daunting.
When I initially started writing this book, it was exciting because I didn’t quite know what was going to happen in the story scene by scene. Now that I’ve finished it and have a clear path to follow, its hard to go back through. Think of when you read an epic book for the first time. You get to experience the build up and the shocking moments for the first time. Now, think of immediately picking that same book up and re-reading it all over again. Part of you wants to jump forward to those epic moments that were your favorite. This is somewhat how it feels to me revising this story. Don’t get me wrong, I refuse to quit. It’s just taking a bit to jump back in.
So, with that in mind, I figured it would be a decent idea to get the creative writing fire back by starting a little short story/novella. That way, if I feel like I’m stuck with Soulformer draft 2, I can still feel like I’m being creative and productive. This particular idea is pretty ridiculous and couldn’t be more different from Soulformer, so it should be interesting. I may end up posting it here on my blog in its entirety if I do end up finishing it (depending how long it ends up being). Who knows? This could be a terrible mistake and end up pulling me away from revision too much. But I say it’s better than nothing.
Now, for that single brave soul who got all the way through this slog of a post, here’s the basic idea for this short story. The working title is Vargus Worldhopper. It’s about a man on a mission looking for something he’s lost in a dimension he can’t remember. Each chapter is a different alternate reality and he’s working on documenting each dimension he comes across while also keeping his senses on the prowl for what he misplaced.
It’s weird, it’s very sci-fi, and I honestly have no idea where it’s going to go. I think of it as a slight representation of my ADHD jumping from place to place, so who knows what will happen with Vargus?
Anyway, for those still interested I will try to work harder on getting draft 2 of Soulformer done and ready for beta readers. As I said before, I’m roughly 30% of the way through. The first half or so of the story needed some pretty substantial revisions (essentially a full rewrite), so I’m hoping that once I make it through to 50%, the pace will pick up a bit and it won’t take me months and months to get this done. Thanks to everyone who is still interested! You keep me motivated.