Craft versus crap

I forgot what it was to Craft a book, not just write one. I'm taking my time, thinking about every word, examining the scene and making sure I have a goal there, making sure the scene is moving the book forward.

I don't do that when I write a mystery. I tend to get the story down quickly then I go back, fluff it up a bit, then I consider it done. Once Kathy has read it, I add more to it, tweaking it here and there. I don't Craft as I go.

But this Big Book has to be done that way, I think. Otherwise it's going to become superficial. And Lord knows, this won't be a superficial series if it works out the way I want it to.

Fingers crossed I can maintain this level of concentration. If I can, I think I'll have a story worth reading...

Good Lord, this is hard

I'm working on my Big Book. Actually, it'll probably turn out to be 5 books or more.

I've been working on this for 5 years I think. I've started innumerable drafts, finished some, tossed some away, started from scratch 5 or 6 times. It's a Big Story -- spanning generations, etc. It's all-consuming when I work on it. These characters take root in my head and just live there for months at a time.

I love working on it but I despair of ever getting it Right. I feel like I'm doomed to always write a rough draft.

Maybe this time.

Keep going. Keep going. Keep going. Keep writing. Keep writing.

Do all writers have this?

I was at a meeting with some aspiring writers; I was one of 3 published authors, talking to the group.

One of the other authors said something like, "I started working on a book but it was beyond my talents, so I stopped writing it. I worked on {this one} instead and I hope to return to the other one someday."

Her words really stuck a chord with me because I've been picking away at a book for a few years that I would love to have see the light of day. The problem is: I don't know if I'll ever be good enough to write the damn book. It's a multi-generational story, set in a post-apocalyptic America (sort of "Book of Eli meets the Stand with a bit of Gone with the Wind thrown in"). It's a BIG book: in fact, it will probably be six or seven books if I let it take shape the way I think it should.

I return to it every autumn, without fail. For some reason, winter's approach makes me want to work on that series.I read what I wrote and I wonder if it's good enough, but I keep writing on it, keep it moving forward.

I'll probably self-publish it some day on the Kindle or somewhere (that's the way publishing is going, isn't it? Will there be any publishing houses left?)

Does every writer have "the one that got away" from them? Do we all have that "Big Book" we want to finish? It's not necessarily The Book of My Heart, but it's a story that I just can't put down...

Mystery solved

I figured out why my blog post never showed up. Grr. It should have worked but it didn't.

Famous little words: "It should have ..." It should have rained, it should have been okay, it should have hurt his feeling (or not hurt his feelings), etc. Words like "it should have" are more about our perception of what we would like rather than an understanding of reality.

Perhaps this is one reason why most religions annoy the crap out of me. There's an implied 'you should' in almost every tenet of faith and I really dislike someone else telling me what I should do, especially when those people claim to be channeling a deity or speaking for a deity.

The leaders are (let's face it) just human and why should I believe them? I mean, look what happens when people blindly follow leadership like that: 'drink the Kool-Aid and all will be well' or 'kill those people because they're different than us'. All religions are cults of some kind. Many are less objectionable than others, but most demand a change of personality and surrender by their followers. Is this a good thing?

The rare times I hear a religious discussion I take a step back and look at the "you should" objectively. Is it a reasonable request or idea or concern? Is it realistic? Or is it just a control mechanism clothed in the voice of the deity (you have only to look at some of the larger church organizations and some their policies to see what I mean).

I've been pondering this lately because I'm getting ready to embark on rewrites to my 'end of the world' books in which I pit the few remaining religious people ('few' because they were wiped out by a plague) against those who have no time for organized religion (literally 'no time' -- time is running out for the human race). So I've been reading a lot about religions and how the leaders manage their followers (most religions are run like a business, which I find fascinating). I suspect ponderings like this will continue until I actually start to put words on paper. Then, hopefully, it'll be full steam ahead because my characters will take over the writing.

Until then I'll let the ideas simmer in the back of my brain while I work on other writing. But I'm hoping, someday soon, to dig deeply into those books. I've found I really like the world I created there...