On Shifting Gears

I was going to just put "Shifting Gears" the subject of this message, but then I realized that in this context it usually implies some sort of change in direction, a pivot, often with a subtext that the last thing wasn't working, and with much enthusiasm for the next thing. So no, I am not giving up on writing to focus my creative energies on being an aging rock star. Or whatever.

What I was looking for is more along the lines of "moving into high gear," but I'm well aware that for an author, high gear comes in the lead up to and execution of a book launch, so that doesn't work either. I'll save that subject line for when that time comes.

Up-shifting!

Having managed to come up with a satisfying ending for my novel, things have really started to move along. I've got a first draft of the ending and, perhaps shockingly, I'm happy with it. I have some more to write though, as the sub-plots have arrived at my climactic ending but I haven't really covered off how they get there.

Subplots need a coherent storyline beyond the points where they intersect with the main plot. In other words they need to be able to carry their own weight and not be some tacked on device that just moves the main thread along. I think they do most of that job right now, but my instinct says that they could do a lot more.

I think the best way to tackle this is to do a developmental edit. For me, that means extracting each plotline and character storyline separately, so I can clearly see how each character experiences the story as it progresses. This is a somewhat tedious process, but at the same time it's also fun, especially knowing that I'm fine tuning and filling in the details. It is great to be working without an underlying dread of not really knowing how to bring the story to an end.

If all goes well I'll be able to get this to an editor sometime in June, which will trigger the second major phase of this adventure, getting ready for production and marketing, for high gear. Wish me luck!

Podcast Update

Our dedicated 1.5 listeners probably noticed that there's background noise in every episode. That's the fans on my laptop, working to keep things cool. The noise gets picked up by my condenser microphone, which has been a workhorse for years... in quieter environments. I'm a reformed perfectionist, which means it doesn't have to be perfect (it never is) but it does have to meet a certain standard. With that noise, it wasn't. So I forked out for a proper dynamic microphone that's much more selective about what it picks up. From episode 16 onward the background noise is still there, but much further in the background. My inner perfectionist is appeased, if not satisfied.

What I've Been Reading

Still more writer stuff. Writing 21st Century Fiction by Donald Maass. This is a surprisingly dense read, dense enough that I'll be reading it twice and making notes. I'm not sure I agree with all of what Maass advises, but most of it is bang on (especially the stuff I'm already doing, wink wink.)

I think not having an ending to my story has caused me to read less fiction lately, probably for a bunch of deep psychological reasons that are better left unexplored. If that's the case there might be some actual fiction in this spot next month.

Thanks

If you read this far, you're special to me. Honestly.

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