I Got Nothin’

Sorry, but it’s true. I’ve been dialoguing with a friend about writing fiction and I’ll give you more information about that when the time comes. But apart from that, all I’ve been doing is reading and writing.

When I finish the book I’m currently reading, I plan to post a review, so I don’t want to discuss it prematurely. Reading also includes blogs. I did my round of blogs this morning, and no new topic jumped out, no intriguing thoughts. I should point out I did enjoy reading an interview with Sharon Hinck at WhereTheMapEnds. For someone who doesn’t know Sharon or doesn’t read her blog regularly, you’ll find this interview enlightening.

So if I didn’t find a blog topic in my reading—and that includes my Bible reading—then that leaves my writing.

Here’s where I’m at. My major work is The Lore of Efrathah, a fantasy trilogy of the sword-and-sorcery variety, except without the reliance upon Celtic mythology. In other words, there are no dwarves, elves, orcs, wizards, or dragons.

I’m presently working on the third book, Battle for Revín. My writing process is quite archaic. I still handwrite my rough draft. I finished that first version (and celebrated it here) last February.

I took time at that point to work on a non-fantasy story I thought I might write before actually revising the last of The Lore. I also developed another fantasy for the ACFW Genesis contest, then returned from Mount Hermon Christian Writers’ Conference with the determination to complete the trilogy before anything else.

First I revised book one, Return to Efrathah, which took some doing. Then I followed suit with Journey to Mithlimar, which went much faster. At long last I began work again on book three.

I don’t mind the long break between drafts. In many ways that makes my perspective much fresher. Plus I’ve had time to think about areas of the story I knew to still have problems.

Quite frankly, I cannot imagine writing to deadline. I know it’s possible. I do it with my newspaper articles and have done it with short stories I’ve entered in contests. In my first critique group, I subbed a portion of my writing once a week—every Monday—so that was a self-imposed deadline.

Nevertheless, the luxury of leaving a story for six months, then beginning work on the revision, is unheard of, I’m sure, by authors writing novels to deadline.

Interestingly, I’ve picked up a couple editing jobs again. The timing is what I find key. When I was working on fresh material and needed to stop worrying about word choice and the like, I was not editing. Now that I am completely in edit mode, those jobs came rolling in. Hmmmm. It makes me think there’s Someone else orchestrating all this. 😉