Writing

Change of Plans

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I’m trying hard to make a go of the writing thing right now, and while that’s only been going on for a few weeks so far, I have hopes. Granted, I’ve recently taken a new job at work that demands more of my time and ratchets up the level of responsibility dramatically, home life I think is working very well. My oldest is living on his own now, and in another city, and my daughters are both of an age where they like to know I’m around, but don’t necessarily need to be in the same room I’m in. So, in among regular chores and that the house list and other responsibilities, I do have a little time here and there. Which I’m completely taking advantage of.

In the last week or so, I have posted about both the overall plan, and the project list. Both of those should be considered fluid, and I have the right to exercise any time changes to the plan we forecasting what I intend or expect. During a morning commute last week, just after finishing the middle section of the second last scene of the short story I’m dictating, I made the decision to exercise that right and adjust the plan.

I have been working on both the third draft of Arena and the first draft of Shrine in the past several weeks, the first two books in the Troll War, I mean Troll World quartet. Notice the “slip” there. I recently decided on World over War because the War things slowly lead up to doesn’t actually happen until the last book. I don’t want to give the impression that the other three books are just build up towards that, because they are each an adventure in their own right. Well, the first one certainly is, I’m working for the second one to be, and the third is plotted that way as well. While the stakes are necessarily different in each story, they’re not necessarily any more life threatening from the view of the principal characters, although I feel like I’m ratcheting things up in every single book for my primary protagonist, and they get wider ranging.

Completely beside the point.

The decision I’ve made is that I’m not going to do the final editing pass on Arena shortly after I finish the third draft. Added to that, I’m not going to do any editing of Shrine until both Palace and Battlefield are both drafted. And Battlefield isn’t even plotted yet, much less outlined. These books are short enough, probably all falling into the 65 to 85,000 word range things once done, that I think things might work better story as if I do most of the editing as a group. While they represent four separate stories, those stories do form a larger arc for the protagonist.

I am still going to pick up and finished the first draft of Fractured Unity right after I finish the first draft of Shrine, the old plan of then moving on to drafting Bad Teenage Poetry is gone now. I’m moving Palace first and Battlefield right on its heels (which means I need to plot and outline Battlefield early in the fall). Once they’ve all hit at least the end of the first draft, I’ll let the whole cycle rest for several months while I work on other things before starting revision notes and second drafts for the second third and fourth books as a group. Eventually, I’ll do the final, read it aloud draft for the whole quartet together.

One tiny little decision, which changed my whole plan for the remainder of 2018 and all of 2019.

And that’s okay, because I think I like it better this way.

Not that I can’t change my mind again if I want to.

Be well, everyone.

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