So I got done with the second draft of Dwarves of Katie Elder. It’s all nicely formatted into an epub and in the hands of my beta reader (wife).
I’m not holding out too much hope that it’ll be published. For being a fantasy story, it’s more character-based than plot-based. And it’s pretty short–not an epic swords-and-sorcery series. It’s more about what happens in those tiny towns the heroes pass through.
Weird thing about Dwarves of Katie Elder is, in my sequence order of things to write, that it jumped to the head of the line. I can’t remember why. I think it was just inspiration–the pre-writing was fresh in my head so it became the next novel.
This post-draft incubation period is when I’d be working on other stuff. I’m not doing short stories (not until I feel like doing any). I do novels, because that’s what I feel like writing. It’s what I want to write. But they take a long time. So now I’m wondering what I should pull out of the hopper next.
My brain is telling me that the next thing should be the Naga story. I’ve got lots of pre-writing for it, a well-fleshed plot, and of all my story ideas, it’s the one I want to work on the most. (Although I’m nervous about starting a new novel while another’s in progress.)
But I’ve also got several other ideas too. Ones that might be more commercial or reach a bigger audience. Or not. Who the hell knows the publishing industry. I haven’t written anything in a non-fantasy world for a long time. It’s hard not referencing cell phones or pop culture. There are some great funny lines that don’t make the cut by the fact that none of earth history happened here.
Financially, the ideal next step is to get the erotica ready to see the world (i.e. self-publish it). But that still feels like a hot potato. Even using a pseudonym, I’m not sure I want to risk that stuff being tracked back to me. But I also think, what do I have to lose?
I’ve got nine potential novels in my head, all of which I want to see on paper. So how do I decide?
Well, I saw this book that a lot of writers recommend–The First Fifty Pages. It seems that to get my stories on the side of publishable, I shouldn’t spend so much time on completing a novel if no slush reader’s going to get past the first chapter.
But publishers expect a completed novel when you start asking for representation. You don’t query on spec. If they do like the first 50 pages, they’re expecting the rest right behind. Seems like that’s potentially wasted work for the author. But I’m not going to change the industry.
So I’m going to change it up a bit. I’m going to write the first fifty pages of these novels. Maybe not all nine, but more than three. Before any plotting, character bibles, or back story. Fortunately, I think all these novels have the beginning scene established, so I should be able to at least make some headway. My hope is this will A) improve my beginnings and B) help me figure out which novel has the most potential. If I can make the first chapter promising, it stands to reason the rest should follow.
Of course, first I have to read The First Fifty Pages. I guess that’s what I’ll be doing with my writing time for a while here.
