Words Go By

… And still I think about you. Bonus points if you know what song I’m paraphrasing here.

In this case, “You” is Eben, the main character in Vintage. He’s been fun to write and I miss him already.

I suppose I ought to post something about how Camp NaNo went, now that we’re a week into August. Some of you might be curious how writing (well, sort of rewriting) Vintage went and where I’m at in general.

The writing has been going well and I’ve been having fun. There have been a few unexpected twists along the way with Vintage. Following them has led me to some interesting places and I don’t regret any of it, even when it means revisions are going to be a challenge.

Yes, I’m already thinking of revisions on this, for two reasons. One, I’m excited about them. No, you’re not imagining things. I am actually looking forward to revising this book. I’ve been making notes as I go for that very purpose. Things I know I need to strengthen, others I need to include. Things that got changed by twists. I’ve realized I need to basically rewrite the entire first half. I’m okay with that, because it’ll be so much better. I have so many ideas for that in my notes. 🙂

Oh, and the second reason. THE FIRST DRAFT IS FINISHED!

Sorry, had to give it the appropriate level of excitement. So you could understand. Really, it was all for you guys. *giggle*

The final count is 100,081 words, which is a bit longer than I wanted. I’m not worried. I’ll deal with length later. Like after I rewrite that first half, because I have no idea the effect that’ll have on the length of the book. Since I can’t predict that, I’ve decided to let it just be what it needs to for now.

That’s not quite what’s up next for me though. I just finished the edits for a short story going into an anthology and now I need to write another short story for a different anthology.

It’s funny. There was a time when I hated writing short fiction, but I’ve come to enjoy it these days. I’m not sure if it was practice or coming to grips with at least some of what makes a short story work well, but I like writing them. I still love long fiction, of course, and I have no idea which I like writing better. Hmm, something to think about. Anyone else have any opinions on this they’d like to share? I’m curious.

I’ve also been reading a fair bit. I read the two books that are out of Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archives, which are fabulous even if they make me quail as a writer. I’m never going to be that good, though it won’t keep me from trying. Patrick Rothfuss’s Kingkiller Chronicles have also been good. I’m on book 2 of that series and really just want to sit around and read these days. Thank god book 3 is due out in October. 🙂

One last thing I’ve been doing. There are a couple of worlds I’m building for different stories. I pick at them as I have time. One I even drew a map for. Trust me, that’s HIGHLY unusual for me, but at the same time, I found it oddly inspirational. I don’t know when I’ll be writing either story. I want to take it slow, really work the worlds up before I try to see what their story is. Still, I’m excited about them and it’s always nice to feel excited about writing.

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