Wednesday 21 March 2012

"It aint over until the fat lady sings!"

And no, this is not a post about Adele and her fabulous singing abilities. But rather a rant about nothing in particular. To those of you who feel they have been misled, I say "Goodbye and thanks for stopping by." To the rest of you who have an idle minute or two to kill, I say "Step right in. I mean, what's the worst that could happen, right?"

It is no news that I am a storyteller. And if it was, then at least now you know. I have been writing for almost 14 years now, with no plan of stopping anytime soon. I do this not because I am hungry for fame and fortune. But for the mere love of the art. There's nothing like that feeling you get right after penning a good book, a great scene, or even a single line of memorable dialog.

The problem is I am not a particularly fast writer. And this is a problem I have been working hard on rectifying. While my ideas might come in steady torrents, the actual writing process for me feels like waiting to collect water from an old, rusty tap. Sometimes the words might come in short bursts. Other times they come in a slow trickle. The key is having my bucket in place at all times. But it sure would be nice to get those darn pipes unclogged in the first place, you know.

I seriously envy writers like Amanda Hocking who brag about writing full length novels in weeks, sometimes even days. My previous series, Neuro, came in at 100,000 words, and it took me almost 2 years to write. Granted, I also had to juggle between school, work and a number of other personal projects. Still, it would be nice to drop off the radar for a few days or weeks and have a book completely drafted within that time.

The reason I am bringing all this up is because I am this close to penning my next book, Guardians and the Lost Paradise. But I've been laboring towards that finish line without much progress to show for it. In a way, this sort of mirrors the dilemma presently facing my main character. He is on a final journey/quest, one that seems almost unending. I guess that is why I am feeling that way too; my feelings at any given time tend to mirror that of my MCs. Is this normal? I mean, does that happen to you as well??

I am still determined to have my book fully drafted by the end of this month though. And when there is a will, there is surely a way.

P.S: If this post sounded a bit disjointed (if not completely pointless), then I must apologize. It is due to a rather funky mix of prescription drugs doing strange and wonderful things to my mind and body right now. Painkillers mostly.

2 comments:

  1. Writing for me goes slowly, too. Maybe now that I've drafted my first novel and am working on edits things will go more quickly next time. Hope we both find a way to speed up the writing! Good luck finishing your draft by your deadline!

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    1. Thanks Lora. And congrats on finishing your draft of The MirrrorMasters. I'd been meaning to ask how far you'd gotten. This is indeed encouraging.

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