The editor has come back to me superquick with the feedback I needed to consolidate the character profiles. Brilliant ! Which means it is time to start expanding the story ideas and...gulp.. actually start writing the story.
At the RNA conference the other week, RITA award winning writer Jodi Thomas used the analogy of writers climbing the mountain until they got to the tree line, then getting stuck below the hard rock.
To me starting a new story is always like climbing a new rock face.
I have trained. I have listened to advice from the best, and practised techniques on other climbs.
I have the equipment and kit I need to make the journey. I have crampons, ice screws and carabiners to keep me hanging on. Even a miner's helmet for when the burning light of passion fades.
No, I can't predict avalanches and rock falls which will sweep me down to the bottom of the rock face again. And no, I can't be sure that the route I have planned to get me to the top. I may well deviate - in fact, I expect I will have to change - but the new route will be better. Stronger.
Yet here I am, standing looking at this huge lump of granite. Hesitant.
I am sure of two things.
I have my two climbing companions - the separated soulmates, Amy and Jared.
And that once I get to the top with a first draft completed, I am always only half way there, and most climbing accidents happen on the way down. Revising.
I have my two climbing companions - the separated soulmates, Amy and Jared.
And that once I get to the top with a first draft completed, I am always only half way there, and most climbing accidents happen on the way down. Revising.
Time to go and buy the Kendal Mint Cake. And new shoes. And a new story playlist on YouTube. And many other forms of procrastination so my brain can start processing the daydreams into something useful. Wish me luck.
What’s playing my YouTube right now? Chris Isaak. Wicked Game. Classic.
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