Out of the ashes rose a phoenix...wait scratch that, a raven. When I was thirteen years old I began my love affair with dark, paranormal fiction (back then I think the whole section of the bookstore I was drawn to was simply called "Horror." One of my favorites was Of Saints and Shadows by Christopher Golden. Some vampires in the story could transform into animals. This inspired me to write a novel about a young shape-shifter on a quest. I called it Ravyn's Quest. I began typing the story on my tiny Mac Classic. I actually made 3/4 of the way through the manuscript before I realized I didn't know how the story would end. I sent my character on this treacherous journey only to realize I didn't know what she was going to do when she got to where she was going. I always thought in the back of my mind, some day I'll finish it.
And I did take it back out last year. I started over, from the very beginning. This time I'd make sure there were actually characters in the book and that her quest actually had a purpose to it. I thought I liked what I had, but then about 8000 words in, I got stuck. Bogged down by the research of it all. And what did I do? I put it away again. For another year!
In the mean time, I took some much needed time to educate myself at writer's conferences and read, read, read. One very helpful book has been Self-Editing for Fiction Writers: How to Edit Yourself into Print by Rennie Browne, recommended to me by Stefanie von Borstel at Full Circle Literary.
I finally had the urge to take out my manuscript again last week. I blew off the dust and read through it. I deleted the entire preface and half of the word count, so essentially I started over -- AGAIN!
I'm loving it now. It'll take plenty of encouragement, nourishment, love, and dark chocolate, but this time, I think I'll make it to the end. I've found what's most important -- Ravyn's voice. (And it sure helps that she has a supporting cast now)
What are your current works in progress? Do you have that one project or idea in a back cabinet somewhere just screaming to be written?
My word count so far:
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