I'll Always Have Chapter Six...

It's writing update time, folks. Get excited. Whoop whoop. 

Despite the constant lure of Twitter and the urge to read every fact-checking thread that debunks the day's news cycle, I am nearing the end of Book Three.

Now, hold your horses one tiny moment. I'm still a couple of calendar years away from having anything publishable. The end of Book Three, at this stage, is simply the end of the first draft. I'm approaching the literal end of a story that exists a little bit more each day. Back in June, I gave myself the end of November to get to the last full stop. I've amended that deadline slightly over the months, and now it's the week before Christmas. (You know, because I love the sweaty panic of getting the house ready for a three-day food-fest of multi-generational guests at the same time that I have to tie up loose ends and hope the characters haven't been wasting theirs or the readers' time for 80,000 words. Fun!)

There is a notebook filled with
THOUGHTS just waiting for January.

Pretty much since I started, the urge to tinker with what I've already written, is strong. I know from writing Book One, how much time I would waste if I did that. Rereading from chapter one is banned. My editing time will start in January when I have a complete draft in which to dive. The problem with that, though, is that as I near the end of my first draft, I'm well aware of its utter mediocrity.

Jessica and Gilderoy are here
to remind me I've done it
 before so I'll do it again.

Now wait one moment. I'm not being insecure, nor self-deprecating. Mediocre at this stage is pretty good. And as well as mediocre, there are plenty of chapters that are downright shite. That's OK too. No book in its first format is anything better than that. I know, from past experience as well as reading accounts from other writers, this is perfectly normal. The feeling of not being able to see the wood for the trees, and of being overwhelmed by the enormity of the task ahead, is all standard stuff. I'm not worried. It's just the process of which I am slap bang in the middle. Come January, the next part of the process will kick in. It'll be time to turn the mediocre/shite formulaic stuff into coherent, engaging, and suspenseful prose. (LOLZ. We can but dream.) That's the plan, anyway. And that will take just as long (if not longer) than the six months of writing draft one has taken.

The accompanying folder of waffle
and ramble is filling up nicely. 

So, believing it will be better one day is what I need to do. Some days that's easy. Others not so much. But for now, there are little snippets of hope that help me through. Like last week's writing group. So far, since June, I've read the first five chapters out loud. The group have listened to me, and given their feedback. It's been very kind. Maybe better than kind. They've been supportive and constructive. I've made notes that I'll definitely consider when January comes around, and hearing their chat around what I've written has made me rethink some things. All really useful. 

Last week, I read Chapter Six. This one was more comedic than the previous ones. It focused on a phone conversation between two friends who were having a long overdue catch up. It involved office gossip, love life updates, and had a general air of piss-takey repartee between the characters. It's supposed to be light relief amidst some heavier issues of which I've only hinted. 

Here's the thing. People laughed. Not just at the end, but regularly. All the way through. I read it at a ridiculously fast speed because time was tight, but my joke about a gimp mask landed. Then my character's description of her new lover's body caused mirth. 'Not man-booby at all!' I kept racing through, aware that people were amused, and then got to the end and felt the love. It was so gratifying. 

Look, people might still have felt the need to be kind. But it felt good. It gave me a boost that will keep me ploughing on until I feel happy with all of it, not just the little bits. One day, I'll look at every chapter, at the overall structure, at the character development, at the emotional punches, the imagery and word choices, and feel happy with every single bit of it. For now I've got Chapter 6. That's enough to keep the faith.

Have a lovely week, folks.