{"id":1277,"date":"2019-01-28T19:42:12","date_gmt":"2019-01-29T00:42:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/?p=1277"},"modified":"2019-01-28T19:42:12","modified_gmt":"2019-01-29T00:42:12","slug":"never-give-up-never-surrender","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2019\/01\/28\/never-give-up-never-surrender\/","title":{"rendered":"Never Give Up, Never Surrender"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p> $\"\"$ Right now, I\u2019m about four weeks away from beginning yet another round of revisions on my novel. Why four weeks, you ask? Because the draft is still out with two readers and, by the time I get their changes back, I\u2019ll be preparing for a trip to Guatemala with friends. A series of semi-major revisions is hard enough as it is. I don\u2019t even want to think about starting then when I know I\u2019ll have to take a ten-day break right in the middle of the thought process.\n

So I\u2019m in wait mode. But I\u2019m not twiddling my thumbs, either. I\u2019ve been critiquing, reading, and taking advantage of the time to relax. We\u2019ve talked about the importance of breaks before, remember?<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve also been reviewing and mulling comments from the critique copies I\u2019ve already received. Already, a few fixes are forming in my mind, but I have to admit I\u2019ve also been thinking about some of the feedback with mixed emotions. Brandon Sanderson and others often say writers must learn to kill their darlings \u2013 to cut away pieces of the manuscript that don\u2019t serve the story even though the writer holds them in particular fondness. That is certainly the case in a couple of suggested edits. But more than any personal attachment for these details, I am not sure how I would hold the story\u2019s track if I change them. And its track is long-term \u2013 longer than just one book. Longer than one trilogy. Long enough to span into other books outside the trilogy, but still within the same universe, using crossover characters.<\/p>\n

My fiction teacher told me my novel concept is crazy complex. She\u2019s right. I know I need to carve away $\"\"$ several elements that muddy the waters unnecessarily. Still, I\u2019m worried my efforts to simplify it, if not very carefully done, may just make things worse.<\/p>\n

This is exactly why she advised me to sit with these suggestions for a few weeks. Wise words. I\u2019m grateful for the waiting period enforced by my travel plans, since the urge to edit right now is strong.<\/p>\n

I envy writers who say they finished a book in a couple of years. I don\u2019t know how they do it. I\u2019ve been working on this long-term story, its universe, and its multiple worlds for maybe eleven years, though this particular book only took workable form about five or six years ago. That was when I started learning the actual craft of writing marketable fiction. Others have said it took them ten years and seven or more drafts to get something worthy of a winning query. I think that\u2019s where I am right now. This will be my seventh draft, which will require yet another round of readers and critiques.<\/p>\n

It sometimes feels endless, but I just keep reminding myself that every draft carries me closer to a published book.<\/p>\n

I saw a quote the other day that\u2019s worth sharing: \u201cNothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan Press On! has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.\u201d \u2013 Calvin Coolidge<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ The truth is, writing is not a short-term craft. It\u2019s a long game, one that sometimes changes as you play. I can\u2019t tell you how many times I\u2019ve felt like this was all a failed experiment, and I should just take the hint and give up. Maybe I\u2019m just not cut out for this craft. Maybe I\u2019ll never have enough skill to make it in such a tough business. And every time, either I or the Bobinator or some other reader of my work yanks my head out of the Well of Doubt and shakes some sense into me. Next day, I\u2019m back at the keyboard.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why I know I\u2019m in this for the long haul. I can\u2019t let this go\u2014not just this book, but the writing life in general. If it\u2019s taught me nothing else, the experience of crafting fiction has shown me beyond all doubt that I\u2019m at my best when I\u2019m drafting new stories.<\/p>\n

So damn the discouragement. Full steam ahead.<\/p>\n

Draft # Seven, here I come.<\/p>\n

Waiting by Nordwood Themes<\/a>
\nCarver by RoyBuri<\/a>
\nMarathon Runner by Skeeze<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"