Busy Life

There have been many changes in my life over the past two months. My wife and I bought another house and renovating it. That means I have work in the evenings and weekends. Our daughter started to walk (which is both scary and exciting!). My father passed away. Next week I start school again.

I am not complaining. I like to be busy. It is the type of person that I am. Being able to exercise my mind, then do something physical like renovations is good for you. My wife thinks that I am crazy for taking on so much at once, but I want to get it done.

Back to the book. Progress has been slow, but still going. I have taken a step back to review the high level storyline, plots, characters, etc. There are some things that I think could be better and debating whether to change them now or in the second draft. Part of me wants to do it now so I can build it deeper in the story. I will play around with it and see how it goes.

It is exciting to see the characters in your head come to life on paper. You get to describe what you have been imagining for a long time and tell people the story you have been thinking about. Of course, that makes it easier to write and harder to edit later. One thing that I have learned from an editor (reading articles) is this: If you put too much detail in the story, the person will not be drawn to it. It is overload and the person does not use their imagination. Some things are worth putting in detail, but not EVERYTHING.

I am trying to use words of wisdom where I find it. I keep a separate file with these little tips that I can go back and review once in a while. The hard part about that is choosing which of the tips is valid and which are not. Every book is different and writing styles vary. You just have to use common sense, do what you think is best for your book and be open to criticism.

My goal is to finish the first 100 pages of book, send it to a couple people for review and feedback while I work on the next 100. It would be interesting to get this feedback during the process instead of after the book was completed. There may be some mistakes that I can correct and save time later. I have to keep in mind that every reader has different opinions. Not all suggestions will be implemented, but it is a start.

Ok, back to work!