I read something recently that was
forwarded to me via a ‘Tweet.’ The link was to ‘Pixar’s 22 Rules of
Storytelling.’ Rule #8 hit me like a blaster between the eyes.
#8: Finish your story, let go even if it's not perfect. In an ideal world you have both, but move on. Do better next time.
Recently I posted my first novel “The Helavite War” on Kindle. This volume was originally written in 1990. I have never had a child, but I imagine I was as proud of this volume as a first-time mother. I labored over it. I endeavored to proof it and fine tune it. In 1991 I wrote the second volume of the Star Traveler Series, “The Heirs of Henu.” By the time I was halfway through that book, I knew I was going to write a trilogy. I finished the third volume “Old Friends/New Enemies” in 1992.
But I kept going back to the first volume - endlessly tweaking it.
I felt I found my writer’s voice by the third volume. I wanted to improve the first book. I did an extensive rewrite. I changed long passages of prose to dialogue because by now my characters had found their voices.
A reader told me if I thought I found my voice in volume three then I learned to sing in volume four. I was encouraged. I wanted to take the characters I had grown to love further. So between 1990 and 1995 I wrote a volume a year resulting in six books of the Star Traveler Series.
And then I deserted it. My mind was brimming with more ideas for the series. More volumes were planned (outlined in a drawer), but I still believed I could rewrite the first novel and make it better, stronger, cleaner.
So the series sat untouched for seventeen years on my shelf. The soft copy moved from computer to computer through an endless number of software upgrades. Meanwhile, I wrote five middle-school fantasies. I wrote a bi-weekly, non-fiction column for four years for the local newspaper. I created and wrote my story blog with two posts a week.
February 2012, I started the seventh volume of the Star Traveler Series and after 68 pages I was back at the first volume tweaking again. I was obsessing even after a layoff of over seventeen years. I needed to move on or I would never get another volume of the series completed.
So, I threw up my hands. I decided I was finished fiddling with volume one. I let go. It’s not perfect, but I hope you will find the characters compelling enough to come back and visit them again as I post the succeeding five volumes of the series to Kindle.
I let go and moved on. The completion of Volume Seven is the result. Hopefully, I did better this time.
#8: Finish your story, let go even if it's not perfect. In an ideal world you have both, but move on. Do better next time.
Recently I posted my first novel “The Helavite War” on Kindle. This volume was originally written in 1990. I have never had a child, but I imagine I was as proud of this volume as a first-time mother. I labored over it. I endeavored to proof it and fine tune it. In 1991 I wrote the second volume of the Star Traveler Series, “The Heirs of Henu.” By the time I was halfway through that book, I knew I was going to write a trilogy. I finished the third volume “Old Friends/New Enemies” in 1992.
But I kept going back to the first volume - endlessly tweaking it.
I felt I found my writer’s voice by the third volume. I wanted to improve the first book. I did an extensive rewrite. I changed long passages of prose to dialogue because by now my characters had found their voices.
A reader told me if I thought I found my voice in volume three then I learned to sing in volume four. I was encouraged. I wanted to take the characters I had grown to love further. So between 1990 and 1995 I wrote a volume a year resulting in six books of the Star Traveler Series.
And then I deserted it. My mind was brimming with more ideas for the series. More volumes were planned (outlined in a drawer), but I still believed I could rewrite the first novel and make it better, stronger, cleaner.
So the series sat untouched for seventeen years on my shelf. The soft copy moved from computer to computer through an endless number of software upgrades. Meanwhile, I wrote five middle-school fantasies. I wrote a bi-weekly, non-fiction column for four years for the local newspaper. I created and wrote my story blog with two posts a week.
February 2012, I started the seventh volume of the Star Traveler Series and after 68 pages I was back at the first volume tweaking again. I was obsessing even after a layoff of over seventeen years. I needed to move on or I would never get another volume of the series completed.
So, I threw up my hands. I decided I was finished fiddling with volume one. I let go. It’s not perfect, but I hope you will find the characters compelling enough to come back and visit them again as I post the succeeding five volumes of the series to Kindle.
I let go and moved on. The completion of Volume Seven is the result. Hopefully, I did better this time.
Sometimes, we have to just learn to let go. I still have stories written from over a decade ago sitting in boxes from my last move. I think about those characters and whether or not I will revisit them or just keep it moving with my current works. I think over time, we as human beings grow, so even when we revisit our past works, we've changed. If it were up to some of us, our characters would live on through us forever; I'm sure=) I love the titles of your series; especially The Heirs of Henu...interesting.
ReplyDeleteI just revisited this post to tag to an author that was having trouble letting go. Thank you for your comment. I hope your writing career is going well.
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