Take Two

So this week's writing was a bit of a last minute thing, as I had to work and deal with teaching responsibilities over the weekend. But I think it worked out okay, at least at this stage in the process.

I went back and cut out all of the new exposition and character history that I'd added last week, since I felt it was the weakest part. I still feel that way, and wish I could figure out a way to let the pasts of these characters play out naturally, but they're not major characters in this story. Their story is something completely different; it could be a work of its own, really, and I don't want to get distracted from the goal here.

And I ended up adding some of it back in anyway, since the characters need some sort of touchpoint with the reader.

I've got a complete story that just needs fleshing out. If I get sidetracked with trying to tell the stories of every minor character who really only has a small, extremely limited part to play, I'll never get the main story completed. This isn't a Gabriel Garcia Marquez novel, it's a stupid horror/science fiction adventure. Nothing groundbreaking about it. I just want to get from point A to point B and make it an entertaining story.

I can always tell their story some other time. If they're that interesting to me, I'm sure I can always go back to them. Hell, I don't even know if I really want to tell their story. I just want the reader to feel for them when the bad stuff happens. And that's coming up quick.

I'm not sure about my pacing either. I have a natural feel for short story pacing. I've spent years writing stories where I cut out all the fat and just deliver focused, lean narratives. But this is different, isn't it? For a novel length work, shouldn't the pacing be a little slower, a little more exploratory? It's not a mode I'm comfortable in, but I should probably just work my way into it and see what I come up with. I can always cut back and reorganize later drafts if the need arises.

Anyway, there's week 3 of this experiment done. I don't know if anyone else is actually going to still be taking part in this by the end of next month. I hope they do. I don't want to keep boring the shit out of everyone, sending my pages off week after annoying week.