Friday, June 12, 2009

Fiction Friday: Work In Progress Wednesday's Slow-Moving Cousin

Yaaaay! I've accomplished things this week :).

They weren't the things I thought I'd accomplish, but I'm thrilled nonetheless.

Halfway through the week, I said "Screw you, LEGACY OF THE EMPRESS revisions. I want to work on my poor, neglected, work in progress, HOLLOW LAND!"

Let me tell you--nothing reinvigerates the writing mojo like working on something new. I'd forgotten how much fun that was to write new stuff instead of just rearranging old stuff.

I'm loving it! So far I've got 5,500 words (4% of a full manuscript, woot!), and have realized something that fired me up all over again.

The 5500 words don't suck so far. In fact, I'm rather proud, which is a new feeling for me when looking at a draft. Not horror, shame, or dejectedness. Pride.

This is such a far cry from my start on Legacy of the Empress, that I can already tell I'm improving as a writer. I think the rewriting pergatory I've been in has groomed me and helped me better understand plotting, pace, and how to get it in gear with a new story.

By the way, blog reader Scott's suggestions on the opening paragraphs I shared for HOLLOW LAND made it in, and the opening is already way stronger.

Thank you, Scott, and my other fabulous blog readers :)! I love it when you share tips and advice with me. As a writer community, I really feel that we all sharpen one another. Not only does that make us better individually, but it means we'll all have great stuff to read when all of our Works In Progress hit the shelves! So, thank you. Your commaraderie is invaluable!

Any updates from you this week? How did you do? Can we support you in any way?

Have a great weekend, and happy writing!

7 comments:

Tere Kirkland said...

Doesn't it feel good to write again for the sheer joy of writing after the endless polishing of final drafts? I've been turning a historical ghost story over in my head with a young Romani protag who plays the violin. Not quite sure where all the pieces are going to fit, but I'm feeling quite passionate about it already. The heroine is quite a little spit-fire (in my head, anyway).

If you're in need of a crit partner for Hollow Land (I'm curious about the premise just from the title), just lmk!

Have a great weekend!
Tere

Elana Johnson said...

LOL! I love that despair.com poster. Very true.

And you're right - working on something else really makes one feel good! Keep at it!

Rebecca Knight said...

Cool, Thanks TereLiz! :D It IS great. Revising was really grating on me, and it's going to be good for both me and my manuscript to give one another a little "space" ;).

Elana--that pic makes me laugh every time, too! Thanks for the encouragement, and good luck with your WIPs, too!

Danyelle L. said...

Yay for progress! Hope your good spirits in writing continue. :D

Nayuleska said...

Sometimes a current wip needs setting aside partway through. A few of my wips deal with difficult issues, and I had to put them aside to stew.

As for me, I'm currently editing a wip in preparation for beta-reading. Deadline: 1st July. Current progress: editing original chapter 2 (current chapter 3) out of 28 chapters. Got a lot of work to cover this weekend.

Abby Annis said...

Yea! You're moving forward! That's all that matters. Good for you!

Rebecca Knight said...

Thanks, all!

Yunaleska--that is one fast-approaching deadline, my friend! Good progress so far, and best of luck on your project :D.