I’m still working through my first draft of an unnamed story, and I’m starting to second-guess myself as to whether it’s the right story to be telling. Is it just another mystery but with no emotional point to it? Does there have to be? Does every story have to have a terrible dilemma for one main character? Does he have to have flaws which are explored throughout? Must there be a resolution at the end after him/her going through trials and overcoming them? Is there really a need for a big emotional draw if you’re writing a mystery where the job of the reader is to work out the solution before the detectives? I don’t know. But I am starting to feel that what I am writing is ‘nothing new.’
Ah, but that is what readers want. They come back to the stories because they like the characters and want to know what happens to them next, particularly in ongoing series, such as I write. Yes, but it sometimes feels like I’m just adding in words to fill the word count, and I am not sure where things are heading. That’s because it’s a first draft. Your mind is working through ideas and developments, and you’re doing its bidding and putting them down, and when that’s done, you can assess where you are, where it is, and where to go from there.
But there haven’t been any difficult choices, laughs, weeping, parting, murders, abandonments yet – in other words, where’s the drama, the tension? It’s in there, and it will be more ‘in there’ when the second drafting comes along.
Meanwhile, the internal conversation switches, and the mentor taks over:
So, where are you in the story now? Well, I am over my usual halfway length and am approaching 60,000 words. Has there been a twist? Yes, we’ve gone from the ‘ordinary world’ of the setup and have begun on the complications. Good, then we’re now heading for the crisis and a climax. Yes, but there’s no great countdown or consequence as yet. Yes, there is; you’re holding back a reveal so you can create that when the time comes. And the smoking gun moment? You don’t always need one, but it’s there, plotted on your scrap of paper with the rest of the main points; you’ll get there.
And so the internal mind goes on.
Apart from all that, I am aware that I have introduced X as the main character and story leader, and now, around halfway, I am passing that baton to another character, so I am interested to see how that works. If it works. No! It will work; I just have to keep plugging away, which is what I am currently doing.
In Other News
At home, Neil is off on a trip, leaving in 30 minutes, and I’ll be left home alone for two weeks. Just me and this new story idea. Oh, and me and publicity work for the books, which I’m never very good at. I’ve sent out the monthly newsletter with some updates and promos to check, and soon need to start on next month’s news and lists.
Meanwhile, I’m ignoring at least 10 spam emails per day. Get this: this morning I received one from a nonsense idiot via his Gmail address, presenting himself as a story editor for the story I am currently working on. I’ve only mentioned it here on my own blog, so they’re having their AI machines trawl everything now, and not just limiting themselves to Amazon and published books. All they’re doing, of course, is regurgitating what I’ve already written and throwing it back at me as if I don’t know what I am doing.
All the above is part of being an indie author. No matter if/when you get stuck and have self-doubts, which I rarely have, and when you get fed up with these suckerfish spammers, you only have to remember: you are in charge, and you are driving. Just keep going – which is what I am doing, and if you keep following the blog, I’ll take you along with me.
And with that off my chest and worked through (thank you for listening), it’s back to writing chapter 17…
Promo: It’s Raining MM
Genres: General Fiction / LGBT, Romance / LGBT, and Sci-Fi & Fantasy / Urban Fantasy
There are 63 + books to explore in this collection of MM Romance titles, with all kinds of genres covered. Is there something here for you?
