This weekend was straightforward and wonderful.
Timothy and I finished the outline for Cornell Dyer and the Never Robbers, (the fourth book in The Adventures of Cornell Dyer chapter book series), which I will begin writing next weekend.
A quick side note of how we write these stories: For the the first book, Cornell Dyer and the Missing Tombstone, I asked for some basic story line thoughts from Timothy and Daniel, which Timothy mostly supplied. I wrote the book from there. He wrote the title, too.
For the second book, Cornell Dyer and the Necklace of Forgetfulness, Timothy again gave a few thoughts, much less this time, and I wrote the book from there. He wrote the title, too,
For the third book, Cornell Dyer and the Eerie Lake (hoping proof copy will arrive by the weekend), Timothy made a breakfast date and verbally shared a really comprehensive outline for the story. It took about three hours for him to share it all of it, and I hung onto every word. We wrote the title together.
But for this fourth book, Cornell Dyer and the Never Robbers, Timothy supplied the most detailed story line of them all. We began the day before Mother's Day with a three hour breakfast date, continued in the car, took a long walk for more story in the afternoon, and then spent another few hours on Mother's Day afternoon.
All of that for just half the story.
We did two chapters last Saturday, which took another couple of hours. And the last two, along with the epilogue on Saturday, another couple hours.
It's an amazing story. Timothy is an amazing storyteller and kept me enthralled all these hours. Now I have to take his concept and turn it into an amazing story to read.
Shortly after we finished, the proof copy for the fifth and finally installment of Before the Blood arrived, all 312 pages of it. Somehow, when a story is a manuscript in the computer, I can't grasp the immensity of it. It was a moment for pause.
And then I grabbed my headphones and a pen, and began reading and marking, plenty of marking, for I found plenty of typos that will need fixing next weekend.
This was the basking part.
A few side notes: I walked over 10 miles on Saturday and 14 yesterday. I also worked for a few hours yesterday since I have to be out of the office for a little bit on Tuesday (and will be covering a story offsite).
I talked to my parents for awhile on Sunday. So I didn't spend the entire weekend in a bubble (or Narnia, as Rebekah said).
On Saturday, I also worked on the werewolf story (Lycanthropic Summer). This is the procrastination and beginning again part.
For some, "a job well done" might spur inspiration and the next project. Maybe I'm lazy at heart because, for me, it doesn't.
In fact, it's just the opposite.
Sometimes, I think I enjoy reading more than writing. But in order to read the stories in my head, I have to write them. And that is harder than reading.
Grumble.
The basking part of holding that finished book and then opening said book to revel in its story takes LOTS of work to get there. A lot of outlines, drafts, poor attempts, song lists, character questionnaires, and plenty of rewriting until the story I want to tell starts to emerge.
I'd rather read.
I'm not out of ideas, I'm not out of stories.
It's just that I want them to be done now.
It's unrealistic, I know.
But then, look at the fiction I write.
Timothy and I finished the outline for Cornell Dyer and the Never Robbers, (the fourth book in The Adventures of Cornell Dyer chapter book series), which I will begin writing next weekend.
A quick side note of how we write these stories: For the the first book, Cornell Dyer and the Missing Tombstone, I asked for some basic story line thoughts from Timothy and Daniel, which Timothy mostly supplied. I wrote the book from there. He wrote the title, too.
For the second book, Cornell Dyer and the Necklace of Forgetfulness, Timothy again gave a few thoughts, much less this time, and I wrote the book from there. He wrote the title, too,
For the third book, Cornell Dyer and the Eerie Lake (hoping proof copy will arrive by the weekend), Timothy made a breakfast date and verbally shared a really comprehensive outline for the story. It took about three hours for him to share it all of it, and I hung onto every word. We wrote the title together.
But for this fourth book, Cornell Dyer and the Never Robbers, Timothy supplied the most detailed story line of them all. We began the day before Mother's Day with a three hour breakfast date, continued in the car, took a long walk for more story in the afternoon, and then spent another few hours on Mother's Day afternoon.
All of that for just half the story.
We did two chapters last Saturday, which took another couple of hours. And the last two, along with the epilogue on Saturday, another couple hours.
It's an amazing story. Timothy is an amazing storyteller and kept me enthralled all these hours. Now I have to take his concept and turn it into an amazing story to read.
Shortly after we finished, the proof copy for the fifth and finally installment of Before the Blood arrived, all 312 pages of it. Somehow, when a story is a manuscript in the computer, I can't grasp the immensity of it. It was a moment for pause.
And then I grabbed my headphones and a pen, and began reading and marking, plenty of marking, for I found plenty of typos that will need fixing next weekend.
This was the basking part.
A few side notes: I walked over 10 miles on Saturday and 14 yesterday. I also worked for a few hours yesterday since I have to be out of the office for a little bit on Tuesday (and will be covering a story offsite).
I talked to my parents for awhile on Sunday. So I didn't spend the entire weekend in a bubble (or Narnia, as Rebekah said).
On Saturday, I also worked on the werewolf story (Lycanthropic Summer). This is the procrastination and beginning again part.
For some, "a job well done" might spur inspiration and the next project. Maybe I'm lazy at heart because, for me, it doesn't.
In fact, it's just the opposite.
Sometimes, I think I enjoy reading more than writing. But in order to read the stories in my head, I have to write them. And that is harder than reading.
Grumble.
The basking part of holding that finished book and then opening said book to revel in its story takes LOTS of work to get there. A lot of outlines, drafts, poor attempts, song lists, character questionnaires, and plenty of rewriting until the story I want to tell starts to emerge.
I'd rather read.
I'm not out of ideas, I'm not out of stories.
It's just that I want them to be done now.
It's unrealistic, I know.
But then, look at the fiction I write.
Illustration by Kathleen Rose Van Pelt for "Bryony."
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