The Flickering Presence Steadies for a Bit
I know full well that I promised to write on this every day and for quite a while I did that and I was all the better for it. Then somewhere back there, my eyes filled with sand and my focus changed and I became less faithful to the promise and now it's only when I think of it and it seems I don't think of it often. My great fault.
On the other hand, I am more engaged with the little world surrounding me. As I wrote last time, I took a short break from drawing and painting to rehabilitate my first novel, Interesting Times, and as I expected, the story once again lived up to its name.
It took a little over a week to go through it and shave and sand and burnish and smooth, and slash and burn, and beat and massage it into better shape. Towards the end of the first pass, I felt as though I was finally fitting into the flow. The words and phrases came more quickly and seemed to fit more snugly and I killed at least half of my darlings.
I made the big changes that I had hoped to make during all the sleepless nights that have passed since I first "finished" the story back in December 2013. I owed this story another pass and as much attention as I could give it. The story's not great, the characters aren't fully formed, the craft of it is not consistent and mature, but it is 50% better than where it was, and for that I'm happy.
It now lies with Roberta to read it and hold and weigh and sight along its edges, then decide how to bend and correct it. She has the eye for the lay of things and her help makes anything twice as ready.
It's odd that we would spend so much time on something like this. This story will never be a best-seller, NY Times HooHoo of the Week, or prize winner of any kind. But it will be finished finally and hopefully live up to its wonderful cover art. I should try to find the woman in Croatia or Bulgaria that did it for me and thank her again.
Anyway, in a couple days or so, I should be hearing from Roberta as she slogs her way through the story and makes corrections. She's great and there's nothing worse than trying to read through the same story over several times and try to keep fresh eyes to spot mistakes and opportunity. She should put up her shingle and charge for "reading." It is a very valuable service.
More later,
It took a little over a week to go through it and shave and sand and burnish and smooth, and slash and burn, and beat and massage it into better shape. Towards the end of the first pass, I felt as though I was finally fitting into the flow. The words and phrases came more quickly and seemed to fit more snugly and I killed at least half of my darlings.
I made the big changes that I had hoped to make during all the sleepless nights that have passed since I first "finished" the story back in December 2013. I owed this story another pass and as much attention as I could give it. The story's not great, the characters aren't fully formed, the craft of it is not consistent and mature, but it is 50% better than where it was, and for that I'm happy.
It now lies with Roberta to read it and hold and weigh and sight along its edges, then decide how to bend and correct it. She has the eye for the lay of things and her help makes anything twice as ready.
It's odd that we would spend so much time on something like this. This story will never be a best-seller, NY Times HooHoo of the Week, or prize winner of any kind. But it will be finished finally and hopefully live up to its wonderful cover art. I should try to find the woman in Croatia or Bulgaria that did it for me and thank her again.
Anyway, in a couple days or so, I should be hearing from Roberta as she slogs her way through the story and makes corrections. She's great and there's nothing worse than trying to read through the same story over several times and try to keep fresh eyes to spot mistakes and opportunity. She should put up her shingle and charge for "reading." It is a very valuable service.
More later,
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