This is a topic that some people who know me probably won't believe I would choose to write about. And as much as I'm going to try to not turn this into a "do as I say, not as I do" discussion, that is part of being a teacher. Trying to prevent the mistakes you made. So enough explanations. Let's get started.
If I have not mentioned before, Hypothetically Speaking has been a work in progress for over five years. As of writing, I am editing through for the third time and I don't think it will be the last edit because each edit not only sees corrections but it sees additions or replacements. And those require further editing later to see if they fit with the previous material.
But that's not five years of continuous work. I don't want to mislead you. In fact, there have been long stints where the story has sat. I've rewritten it at least three times, and by rewrite I mean completely changed everything. The only thing that has remained consistent has been that I've worked on it. No matter how bad it failed in the past, I didn't let it fail.
And now it's 'finished.' In a sense. But that means the work has just begun.
I'm not just writing this to discuss my own writing process, I want to get into something deeper. While I was letting Hypothetically Speaking stew, I didn't sit and do nothing. I was writing other things. Poetry, most of which sits in a folder on my computer because I hesitate to send it places. Short stories which went through first drafts and stalled. Though I've written a lot since I started writing, most of it is unfinished and unseen.
What's the purpose behind telling you all of this besides just trying to state that I work hard as a writer?
It's the ethic of it
Now that I'm in an editing phase I haven't stopped writing new things. I've begun writing a second novel, a YA fantasy adventure series partly because of a challenge, and partly because the idea has been in my head and it needs to get out. Yes it's based on the Britannians that I have posted, but it's different. And more importantly I'm working on it.
Which is the ultimate message I want to get across. In a roundabout fashion.
I worked on Hypothetically Speaking for five years, but I wrote the first of the editing drafts in the month of January. I'm halfway through my third edit by mid April and expect to be in a state to publish by May unless something pushes me to act faster. And the thing that's changed since January that wasn't present in the previous five years was just sitting down and doing it. All of it. Not false starts and half ways and second guessing. I just did it.
Because here's the thing with work. Working hard doesn't mean a thing if you don't finish. Just as working hard doesn't mean a thing if you don't get a quality product. I've gotten through the first and I'm working on the second, but I hope you've seen what I meant to get through this writing. I'm a little distracted by the world this week, as I discussed earlier.
All I'm trying to say is that talent without effort is worthless. And that's a modification of a Charles Bukowski quote so don't go attributing that to me.
If I have not mentioned before, Hypothetically Speaking has been a work in progress for over five years. As of writing, I am editing through for the third time and I don't think it will be the last edit because each edit not only sees corrections but it sees additions or replacements. And those require further editing later to see if they fit with the previous material.
But that's not five years of continuous work. I don't want to mislead you. In fact, there have been long stints where the story has sat. I've rewritten it at least three times, and by rewrite I mean completely changed everything. The only thing that has remained consistent has been that I've worked on it. No matter how bad it failed in the past, I didn't let it fail.
And now it's 'finished.' In a sense. But that means the work has just begun.
I'm not just writing this to discuss my own writing process, I want to get into something deeper. While I was letting Hypothetically Speaking stew, I didn't sit and do nothing. I was writing other things. Poetry, most of which sits in a folder on my computer because I hesitate to send it places. Short stories which went through first drafts and stalled. Though I've written a lot since I started writing, most of it is unfinished and unseen.
What's the purpose behind telling you all of this besides just trying to state that I work hard as a writer?
It's the ethic of it
Now that I'm in an editing phase I haven't stopped writing new things. I've begun writing a second novel, a YA fantasy adventure series partly because of a challenge, and partly because the idea has been in my head and it needs to get out. Yes it's based on the Britannians that I have posted, but it's different. And more importantly I'm working on it.
Which is the ultimate message I want to get across. In a roundabout fashion.
I worked on Hypothetically Speaking for five years, but I wrote the first of the editing drafts in the month of January. I'm halfway through my third edit by mid April and expect to be in a state to publish by May unless something pushes me to act faster. And the thing that's changed since January that wasn't present in the previous five years was just sitting down and doing it. All of it. Not false starts and half ways and second guessing. I just did it.
Because here's the thing with work. Working hard doesn't mean a thing if you don't finish. Just as working hard doesn't mean a thing if you don't get a quality product. I've gotten through the first and I'm working on the second, but I hope you've seen what I meant to get through this writing. I'm a little distracted by the world this week, as I discussed earlier.
All I'm trying to say is that talent without effort is worthless. And that's a modification of a Charles Bukowski quote so don't go attributing that to me.
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