Posted by Craig on May 29, 2010 – 7:39 pm
Filed under Writing
Tagged as draft, first, half, Writing
I’ve been writing the sequel to The Spiral Dilemma for a few weeks now, and finding the first draft pretty hard to write. I think its because I’ve been revising The Spiral Dilemma for so long, I’m still in that mode of changing what’s there, rather than writing completely new stuff. I know that once I have something finished, no matter how good or bad it is, I can work on it, and mould it into something good.
So instead of working on the first draft, I’ve decided that what I’ve been actually doing is writing the ‘half-draft’. At the moment I have a list of the scenes, and details (in point form) of what happens. So I’m basically taking those points and writing a sentence or two, in some cases a few paragraphs, about what happens. Then once I get a sort of simple narrative of what happens, I can work on it to produce a proper first draft.
I think at the moment I’m placing too much importance on the words I put down. The quality of my writing, at this point, doesn’t matter, because I will be revising it two or three times anyway. For me, its easier to change what’s there rather than write new material.
Hence, I’m writing my half-draft. It’ll flow more quickly since its only a half-draft, because I won’t worry about it so much. Also btw, I’m just past chapter 3, and planning on 20 chapters. I’m doing just about a chapter a week, but hoping to increase that a bit as time goes on.
But first, I’ve got to in the ‘write-new-material’ mode.
Posted by Craig on January 7, 2010 – 3:23 pm
Well, after about four-five months of solid writing, I finished the first draft. Of course, this was a rewrite of the last book I wrote (and discarded), so I guess you could say this is the third draft.
The first version was called ‘Dilemma of the Hour’ and I discarded it because it didn’t really end. The new version is called ‘The Spiral Dilemma’ and is much much better. I took out a character I didn’t really need, moved her to the second book. I also added a bunch of scenes after the original ending, to give it a proper full blown finale. I love it, it’s actually the best thing I’ve ever written.
Now, the next step is to edit, and come up with a second draft. I know there are few scenes which I rushed, and I’ll have to add more detail to those parts. Other bits just didn’t feel right, but that’s what editing is for.
It’s all down hill from here.
Now, where did I leave my fine-toothed come?
Posted by Craig on October 27, 2009 – 6:35 pm
What is my book about?
Well the theme of the book is Sorcery vs Necromancy, and this is a metaphor for a lot of the great debates of the real world, such as Religion vs Atheism, or Creation vs Evolution.
Both Sorcery and Necromancy are forms of magic. Sorcery is the art of manipulating magic through speaking the language of the Gods, called Arcana. Necromancy is the art of manipulating magic through the power of your own blood, which usually involves self-mutilation.
The two are diametrically opposed, as the Sorcerers believe that magic was a gift from the Gods, and that by using Sorcery they can be closer to the Gods.
Conversly, the Necromancers reject the Gods. They still believe in them, but they do not worship them and want nothing to do with them. They believe Magic comes from inside you, and to use Magic is to harness the power of your own blood.
As well as all of this, its also a good old-fashioned fantasy adventure. Dilemma, a Sorcerer in training, is attacked by Daemons, and hunts down teh Necromancer who was controlling them. It is a self contained novel, however I do have a series planned. But if I change my mind and decide never to write any follow-up books, this story could sit on its own quite well.
You can read an except from ‘Time and other Dilemmas’ here:
http://craigsplace.info/writing/time-and-other-dilemmas-chapter-two/
