Finally an update on Kyrnie

[marfisk]

Okay, I've been very bad about updates on Kyrnie, mostly because it's going very slowly. I did finish rewriting the first chapter. It's quite different than any of the earlier drafts. It may focus too much on her brother...or it may not. I'll have to see how it goes all together. And I did manage to get the new part through an edit pass so it's no longer raw. I've also started working on editing the part that I haven't recently rewritten, but made a very small dent in the second chapter.

I guess I'm dealing with multiple issues here and am foolishly letting them affect this edit.

This novel is a complex intersection of three cultures, rife with conflict, myth and misunderstandings.

I don't think it's so much that I've lost interest in the story as that I've lost confidence in my ability to do it justice. Yep, that's right. I'm intimidated by my own story :p. This has a bit of a history in that I came to writing not as a writer, but as a story teller. At this point my mechanics are decent, but my oral story-telling still manages to make things come alive that I struggle to place on the page. The only difference between me and someone who came to writing first is that I _know_ I can convey it better...except I can't.

That said, expect to see at least weekly updates here. I'm setting a goal of one chapter a week and plan to make it no matter what. I've succeeded for this week though not in the way I wanted (reedited the first chapter instead), and I plan to keep making it.

And stats:
90 scenes
3 complete - 3% of the novel
87 Scenes remain
5276 Current Total

Comments

[marfisk]

You want the real answer? The mechanics are difficult, but really, the story telling is the heart. So, you're actually a bit ahead of the game, though it may not seem like it at all.

With the big ideas, the best thing you can do is try to write them. Worse case scenario, you have to do a rewrite. Umm, note that major edits are on the ticket for most writers after a first draft regardless of skill...

The way I see it (when I'm not being a wuss) is that trying to write the harder, deeper, more complex stories will only help me grow as a writer. Whether or not I succeed, I'll be better for it. And if I don't succeed, I can always rewrite it again in a couple of years to see if I'm good enough then. And you might surprise yourself as well.

With Kyrnie, it's a little more tangled. I've started (ridiculously) to worry that if this one is my breakout novel and it comes out first, everyone will be disappointed with everything that comes after. So part of me is delaying this edit so it's not my first. Except that since I'm not getting that many nibbles on the two I have out and I'm not editing anything but this in the SF or Fantasy genres right now, I'm kinda dooming myself either way.

Honestly, the best thing you can do is focus on the story and try to let the other stuff like how it will do on the market and whether you're good enough wash over you for now. When we've got some contracts under our belts is the proper time to start expanding beyond the story, but if we don't get the story under control for whatever reason, we'll never make it to that step.

And yeah, I should start listening to myself...