A Journey’s End

As the month of October comes to a close, I look ahead to the release of my novel next month. It ends a long journey for me.

The story I wrote had its beginning over twenty years ago. The internet was just gaining mainstream popularity in 1991 when the first half of my idea came to mind. It took a few more years for me to complete the idea in a way that I thought would make a compelling story.

I began writing the story toward the end of the 90s, but the result was the barest skeleton of the story. I kept adding to the story, expanding scenes and adding information until I had the initial draft complete in 2006. I lacked the necessary discipline to write consistently, but I did eventually complete the draft.

I sent the draft to a close friend, whom I included in my acknowledgments, who gave me a lot more criticisms than I was expecting. A few were stylistic differences, which I chose to ignore. Most were ways to tighten the writing, which I did with few exceptions. However, one caused me to rethink my storytelling method in the book.

I used a specific technique for guiding the reader through the story. My critic said that the end result was not satisfying as a reader. That was painful to hear, but I could see that he was right. I just could not release my original concept.

I spent almost ten years trying to correct the problem that he identified. I tried several ways to keep my original concept and solve the problem. Ultimately, I decided that completing the story in a way that the readers would find satisfying was more important than using a technique that only I would appreciate.

Ultimately, I modified the storytelling technique so I could solve this problem. I was then able to complete the story, edit it, and present it to publishers for consideration.

I learned a few things as this journey progressed:

1. The story is the primary concern. The technique a writer uses should support the story.
2. Look for help when a problem arises that has no clear solution. I asked numerous authors about the problem I was trying to solve.
3. When recommendations present a clear solution to the problem, act on the recommendation. I did not. Not for a long time. I was too tied to my preference. Eventually, I gave up and went with the consensus recommendation.
4. Never give up. I spent eleven years getting a three-year graduate degree. But I got it. I spent nearly thirty years writing and submitting my first novel. And it’s about to be published.

My current work in progress will not take that long.