Well, yesterday I finished a draft of a novella project that I promised I wouldn't look up from until I glued together a raw, running skeleton. Now then...will this draft manuscript ever see the light of day? Nooooo! God no. This puppy needs so much work. Gaps filled, meaty back story elements added, buttressed timelines, proofing, etc. ...but I think the essence of a long story is in there though. It's kind of chase/revenge/salvation tale by way of a future western involving corporate leisure oversight, false piety, eye-gouging female mercenaries, mass suicide from airships, and the hijacking of a septic tanker piloted by a very nervous Sikh named Jot. And by the way, I use the term "western" loosely for structure, but it does have a good-hearted, retired sherriff and ends with the telltale word saloon. Honestly, the whole jagged 50K zoom was an exercise to get me out of a rut I've been spinning my wheels in these past few months more than anything--kind of a way of proving to myself that if you just dog these stories with nooks and twists, breathe a little roaming whimsy into the corners, you really can end up with something bigger than you thought. Novella sized is a stretch for me, but if I'm going to get any better at this I've got to go bigger, stop wasting the calendar with the short stuff. People have been riding me about this. Okay then, back to fixing another big bastard manuscript (gulp) I've been putting off since October. Onward.
1/6/11
Bones of Crime Dogging
Well, yesterday I finished a draft of a novella project that I promised I wouldn't look up from until I glued together a raw, running skeleton. Now then...will this draft manuscript ever see the light of day? Nooooo! God no. This puppy needs so much work. Gaps filled, meaty back story elements added, buttressed timelines, proofing, etc. ...but I think the essence of a long story is in there though. It's kind of chase/revenge/salvation tale by way of a future western involving corporate leisure oversight, false piety, eye-gouging female mercenaries, mass suicide from airships, and the hijacking of a septic tanker piloted by a very nervous Sikh named Jot. And by the way, I use the term "western" loosely for structure, but it does have a good-hearted, retired sherriff and ends with the telltale word saloon. Honestly, the whole jagged 50K zoom was an exercise to get me out of a rut I've been spinning my wheels in these past few months more than anything--kind of a way of proving to myself that if you just dog these stories with nooks and twists, breathe a little roaming whimsy into the corners, you really can end up with something bigger than you thought. Novella sized is a stretch for me, but if I'm going to get any better at this I've got to go bigger, stop wasting the calendar with the short stuff. People have been riding me about this. Okay then, back to fixing another big bastard manuscript (gulp) I've been putting off since October. Onward.