Climax

After what seems like years, probably because it has been, I am actually entering the final climactic scenes of the fantasy novel that I hope will launch my career as a full time author.  It's been a difficult labor of love from the beginning, and a good portion of the time I was writing blind.  But as things are coming to a close it's interesting to see how pieces are falling into place, how different segments of the story are matching up, and how the story is lending itself to a natural sequel. 

It's also quite interesting how the writing process is becoming easier and easier.  Most of my writing over the past couple years has come from writing a few sentences, or even words, after hours of staring blankly into a computer screen.  But now, it's crazy.  I got up this morning and in the process of getting ready to go to the gym I wrote almost 300 words.  Last night, right before I went to bed, I plucked out another 300 or so, without really trying.  Writing is much easier when you have a sense of purpose and a clear vision.  That's the fun part.  But nobody ever tells you about the points in between, when you are pulling out your hair trying to figure out how to develop character without being boring (I'm not saying that I've succeeded in that), or how to make a three day journey between two cities engaging (or that either). 

Writing is hard, it's work.  But you know what?  It is worth it.  Because when everything comes together, magic happens.

There's still a good portion of work to do.  I think these final scenes will expand beyond their allotted word count (25,000), and the editing process will be significant (though I think it will go much, much quicker than the actual writing process).  But here I am, staring at the writer's equivalent of the light at the end of the tunnel, and I'm quivering with excitement, because I can't wait to see what happens when things in my mind finally play themselves out on the page.

There has been a lot of self doubt, but right now I'm loving this choice that I've made.


Speaking of editing: After my initial editing process to fix continuity issues and clean up some scenes, I plan on distributing a few manuscripts for some reader feedback.  If anybody is interested in doing a serious critique, send me a message through facebook or comment on this post.  I'm only going to do five or six, and I've a few people in mind already, so not everybody is going to be able to do this.  But who knows, maybe you could be a proof-reader for the next great fantasy novel!