I'm still working on Fight Or Flight. Sometimes, it feels like a grind. Given that I wrote its sequel in less than three months, I started wondering why this one was taking so long to complete(nine months at this point). Then it hit me - I'm not writing one novel.
This epic work will have three acts, but given that each act will be over 80,000 words each(in the first draft), I'm basically writing three novels. Yes, each one has a distinct storyline, and each one covers a different phase of humanity's struggle against an unrelenting foe. And, yes, it does advance the same basic plot, but don't all sequels and prequels?
This is my first attempt at what might be called an "epic" novel. Although I knew it at a basic level, it never really hit me that I was writing three books at once. I could probably release each one separately and they'd do fine, but where's the fun in that? I promised the full backstory to Homecoming, and putting this out at once is necessary to do that, for I believe that dividing it into three releases will bore people who'd be hooked on an all-at-once release.
That doesn't make it less work. Notice that I didn't use the word chore, because to me, when writing becomes a chore, it's time to stop. Yes, it's business, and yes it's work, but it's joyful as well. Writing well demands it has to be.
I still think I'm on track to finish the whole thing by Labor Day, but we'll see what the demands of my new job entail. With any time off, and little to do with it, I can meet the goal and start on something else, all while knowing this will be years before release. I just hope I can wait that long.
This epic work will have three acts, but given that each act will be over 80,000 words each(in the first draft), I'm basically writing three novels. Yes, each one has a distinct storyline, and each one covers a different phase of humanity's struggle against an unrelenting foe. And, yes, it does advance the same basic plot, but don't all sequels and prequels?
This is my first attempt at what might be called an "epic" novel. Although I knew it at a basic level, it never really hit me that I was writing three books at once. I could probably release each one separately and they'd do fine, but where's the fun in that? I promised the full backstory to Homecoming, and putting this out at once is necessary to do that, for I believe that dividing it into three releases will bore people who'd be hooked on an all-at-once release.
That doesn't make it less work. Notice that I didn't use the word chore, because to me, when writing becomes a chore, it's time to stop. Yes, it's business, and yes it's work, but it's joyful as well. Writing well demands it has to be.
I still think I'm on track to finish the whole thing by Labor Day, but we'll see what the demands of my new job entail. With any time off, and little to do with it, I can meet the goal and start on something else, all while knowing this will be years before release. I just hope I can wait that long.
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