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Jun. 8th, 2006 12:17 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
johnpalmerI heard someone say that you're not a real writer unless your characters surprise you from time to time.
That's probably not true, if only because there are some excellent writers of non-fiction out there who deserve the appellation "real writer".
But it happened today.
Another thing happened. Back in December, I promised a friend I'd write a personalized story for a child, as a raffle prize. I expected it to be a young child, 4-8 years old, where a short, simple story would do. One weekend for a cute story, maybe 2-4,000 words, with the kid's name, maybe the child's pet's name, mention of a hobby or a school project, and a few other identifying features strewn throughout.
The story ended up being for a 12 year old boy who's got a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and quite a mature outlook.
And tonight - well, "last night", now - and 23,000 words later, I've completed the first draft.
And yeah... a few surprises.
I hope it's good. But, at long last, I can relax a bit, do some rapid editing (I hope to ditch my editor hat once I fill in the parts I need to fill in and cut the parts that I realize don't belong), and then get on with life. This has taken four weeks, and ended up causing me to restart Wellbutrin. Not a bad thing, but a much bigger part of my life than I expected.
That's probably not true, if only because there are some excellent writers of non-fiction out there who deserve the appellation "real writer".
But it happened today.
Another thing happened. Back in December, I promised a friend I'd write a personalized story for a child, as a raffle prize. I expected it to be a young child, 4-8 years old, where a short, simple story would do. One weekend for a cute story, maybe 2-4,000 words, with the kid's name, maybe the child's pet's name, mention of a hobby or a school project, and a few other identifying features strewn throughout.
The story ended up being for a 12 year old boy who's got a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and quite a mature outlook.
And tonight - well, "last night", now - and 23,000 words later, I've completed the first draft.
And yeah... a few surprises.
I hope it's good. But, at long last, I can relax a bit, do some rapid editing (I hope to ditch my editor hat once I fill in the parts I need to fill in and cut the parts that I realize don't belong), and then get on with life. This has taken four weeks, and ended up causing me to restart Wellbutrin. Not a bad thing, but a much bigger part of my life than I expected.
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Date: 2006-06-08 01:35 pm (UTC)Um, if you want a quick once-over from an objective editorial eye, you know where you can find one. (Heck, you probably know where you can find several, but I'm also eager to read this...)
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Date: 2006-06-08 04:25 pm (UTC)--g, former proofreader and tech editor, also eager to read this
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Date: 2006-06-08 06:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-09 01:34 am (UTC)See, I knew there was a reason I loved you.
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Date: 2006-06-08 06:21 pm (UTC)"Oh, right, I have people teleport into the training halls, but I never say why, or how they get back out!"
"Geez, I didn't even mention that, yes, people *eat* here, even though it's the spirit realm. And no, this one source of food isn't the only one."