Spent last week on research and more notes for the new novel. Still no title for this one yet, but I found a fairly significant chunk of my first act last night.
Here it is the first of June, and I had hoped to start drafting by now, but it’s not ready yet.
That might seem like a ridiculous statement, coming from someone who doesn’t outline, who started his last two novels with no real idea how they were going to end. I don’t know why I’m so hesitant in this case. Maybe it’s because I feel like I haven’t put in enough serious preparatory work yet. Or maybe it’s because this is an entirely new story. The basic premise of Petra had been sitting in my head for years before I finally got around to writing it down, and Petra Released was, of course, a sequel. By contrast, the premise of this new novel is less than a year old.
No, wait. Scratch that. I actually wrote a short story with this premise in 2005. I just didn’t know then that I would later be turning it into a novel.
And I already know a lot about my protagonist and the world she inhabits. That was really the key with Petra and Petra Released: once I knew who my characters were, I felt confident enough to throw them into the Plot Mixmaster in my head and let ‘er rip. Maybe that’s what I need to do here.
Hmmm. A moment while I stick a finger in the mix and sample the taste . . .
Dunno. Seems to be missing a little something yet. A bit more brown sugar, maybe. Or another dollop of vanilla. Or something else. Lemme go through my spice rack. I’ll get back to you.
(And don’t worry; I washed my hands first. Really I did.)
No updates for Write Club.
Laterz . . .
