Originally posted on LiveJournal)
Given that I have mastered the art of Procrastination, I’ve really needed to find a way to dislodge inertia. And there’s nothing like having friends nudging and holding one accountable. So I decided to take this plunge, of using a journal to talk about works-in-progress, and anything that might be connected to them. And I think I will start off by saying that after being re-inspired by a collection of online friends, I recently hauled out the manuscript for a fantasy novel that had been sitting in my files for a long time now. About half completed.
In order to get back into the novel, I decided I needed revise the completed chapters. This actually is needful, since when I began the work, my prose tended to be a shade over-written. So paring it down, tightening it up, that’s all a good thing. And doing it this way let’s me re-familiarize myself with the characters and places. Last weekend, I was working directly from the handwritten manuscript, because the version of Chapter 2 that I had on my computer was not complete. So I finished typing in Chapter 2, and found myself getting hooked on the story.
It was a strange – but very, very satisfying – feeling. Here I was reading something I’d written years ago, and I really liked it. I’m usually too close to my work to feel certain of liking my own writing because it is really, truly good – mostly, I like my own writing because it says what I wanted it to say. So… after typing Chapter 2, I was skimming ahead in following chapters and enjoying all the elements I had been weaving into the story. I was gratified to find that in spite of my huge cast of characters, they did not all seem to run together.
I need to set myself on some sort of work schedule for the book – like saying “Polish a chapter on Mondays” or something like that. Haven’t quite figured out what that will be, given that certain social obligations are changing at present. But, having found the work to be acceptable, I’m actually getting a bit excited at the prospect of getting back into it and finishing it. Behind that, in a very slow-moving project, I’m laying the groundwork to publish as print-on-demand a long narrative poem of mine.
Most all commercial publishing arenas just don’t have any place to put a 400 plus line narrative poem in iambic pentameter blank verse. (I could do a rant about magazines that have a 20 line limit to poems they’d accept, but I won’t.) I want to have some illustrations done to go with certain passages, and I’m still doing the break-down of the text for that. This is one occasion where I would not do my own illustrations. I know my limits, and how my own artwork comes out …. and it’s not the look I want for the book. Which is an interesting feeling. There are, of course, other projects on the immediate “to do” list. But I won’t talk about them yet. Surely “going public” about these two is enough for now. Sarah.
Comments
jpantalleresco Jul. 2nd, 2007 09:51 pm (UTC)
Just as someone who has gone on the print on demand route, the real key to doing poetry that way is to keep the look of your book consistant. Printers HATE poems that flow every direction. Your wallet will suffer immensely for it. My only other piece of advice: black and white illustrations. Go all out on your cover but make sure that your illustrations on the inside are black and white. Much much cheaper again. Good luck. I look forward to seeing your works. Later Scribbler Mr. Pants
scribblerworks Jul. 11th, 2007 06:45 pm (UTC)
Thanks for the advice, Josh. I’d considered the black & white option, but … it’s a long narrative poem, printing it at all is a labor of love. I’ve been thinking of finding someone who can do watercolor illustrations. I want the illustrations to be a background for parts of the text. Hard to describe in words, but I know what I want. And for this, I’ll be willing to pay for it. I’m planning to post the opening lines of the work shortly. I don’t have the text with me right now, but ideally tonight, the first 40 lines or so will show up here on the Journal.
(UPDATE: 7 April 2017 – Some things continue to move slowly. Although the story of the novel has advanced from where it was ten years ago, it is still unfinished. Alas, life keeps getting in the way. But I am working my way closer to the end of the novel gradually.)
