The Blog I didn't Want to Write (Or Did I?)

Miss me? I know, It's been quite a while since my last post. The holidays mixed with the end of the semester mixed with a wee bit of procrastination has kept me from posting. I have been in a sort of excited depression. Let me explain...

I received the ideas and thoughts from my editor. It was pretty. And to be honest I didn't really expect it to be (although I was hoping for a miracle worker). It became apparent to me at some point that my story was having some issues mainly due to the fact that I had been writing it in first person. Very difficult to build a world through the eyes of a character that was not "in the know" about many of what was going on in my dystopian world. So I was faced with a challenge that became more of a dilemma. What could I do? So I finished what I had started and waited. Once I reread it I realized it would much easier to tell the tale in third person... but I'm a typical writer and hoped and prayed for the 'easier, softer way.' You know, the one where some one else does the work! And so depression (which is when God stops doing YOUR will) set in because I knew I had some work to do.

The excitement comes from the fact that I've already outlined the entire story, I've written over 17,000 words, and absolutely love the rewrite I'm doing all in the third person. My villain is more complex and a somewhat sympathetic character. Although it's tough not to hate him. My two main characters are coming to life in ways that only that first manuscript could've given me. Some of the back story I wrote has become the story and makes it a story filled with more action and suspense. And so the wait for my first novel to be completed has just been extended. Patience has not been one of my strong points - perhaps that's what God is trying to teach me... (I just wish he would write it FOR me).

One positive is the writing goes much quicker than the first time around. Since I already have written what amounts to a 300 plus page character analysis I feel I know Lazarus (my main character) better than most of the members of my own family. The real work in on my villain and trying to make him, well, human. I know it's cliché and all references to Hitler should be outlawed, but as someone pointed out to me even Hitler was an infant. How my guy turns bad is a question I've asked myself over and over again as I trudge the road of rewriting.

With that... it's time to put a few words on the pages of Welcome to Utopia, the third person version. I hope all of you had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I hope that 2014 will truly be the year that I become a published author. Some dreams are worth waiting for.

God Bless...