Mistakes I Make
While I ease back into the writing, I decided to have a second look at something I tossed out a while back. It was meant to be the prologue to my first project until I had a draft reader take a look at it. His feedback was amazing and if anyone out there thinks their words are precious and must not be tampered with by others, think again. Draft readers are a godsend, whether you believe in a god or not. The changes suggested brought on a whole new round of inspiration in their wake and I ended up with a much stronger piece of writing.
Therein lay the problem. That draft reader very much wanted to know what happened next to the people in the prologue. It had only ever been intended as a glimpse of the origin of the conflict. It was a history lesson, nothing more.
Looking at that prologue today, I thought I saw how it could be expanded on to make a full, stand-alone book. Curious, and that always seems to end well for me, I sat down and scribbled out what I thought of as being the basic outline of that unborn book. Sure enough, I had a plot. I decided to expand on that outline.
Now I’m doomed. The book I’m supposed to be working on is 34,000 words of story I’m half as enthusiastic about as I am this new idea. I have no real commitment to complete that book, beyond Brendan wanting to read it, but I feel like I should finish what I started.
My break has done me no favours. I’ve lost my momentum. Now I guess I have a decision to make. Damn it.