With the first draft of Citizen in the Wilds done, and gearing up to revise and post the first chapter in what is sure to be a twenty-part series of me getting my ass handed to me, I find myself thinking I’ve no reason to sit idle. I’ll probably start putting ideas on the cork-board for Alchemist at Sea, Citizen’s sequel, but I’d also like to drum up interest in my work.
Marc Schuster had a great suggestion. Since this blog is about writing, and places for people to write, I should be willing to look at periodicals that post fiction, and post about them in turn. It allows those of you who take the time to read these drips and drabs to find places to possibly feature your fiction, and it gives those periodicals free publicity. Win/win, right?
In contemplating these journal reviews, I found myself wondering what I’d shop around. I don’t want to just get something I’ve already written re-printed. Akuma seems to have been something of a success in David Rupp’s Blood from the Underground, and Polymancer Studios is holding onto the rights for Captain Pendragon.
But whatever happened to Lighthouse?
I’ve kicked around the idea of Morgan Everson, human stopgap between the world of the supernatural and the mortal population at large, being featured in short stories instead of a novel. I can drop all of the expository stuff about her and her dad, make the reveal of who and what characters are more gradual, and basically handle things more episodically. Constantine does it in comic books, The Dresden Files in novels (though Harry’s a magician and Morgan’s pretty much a Badass Normal) and, to an extent, True Blood in television. It’s something I still have an interest in doing, and I want to keep writing even as Citizen in the Wilds gets itself vivisected.
I really can’t start on a sequel until the first novel’s really finished, anyway. And who’s going to publish a raw first draft or a bunch of incoherent bloody bits? I’m not going to sit on my hands and wait for the criticisms to filter in, either. The only way to write is to write, after all.
Also, I’ve gotten my hands on the first two chapters of Witchslinger and, so far, Joe’s proving to be what I said he’d be. More to come on that, as well.
Congrats again on the first draft, man. A big win. Some advice: sit on the draft for as long as you can stand it. Two weeks minimum — but I recommend a good month. A month where you work on something completely different.
Then, return to it, fresh-eyed, and less in love with your own work. Gain some distance.
Always helps me, at least.
— c.
ditto what Chuck said. I do the same thing….in the drawer with the beastie, out of sight, out of mind.
Once pulled out, you will be amazed how your wonderful work of maganificant literature has turned into so much poop…now you can really start re-writing!
I like the fact that your wheels are spinning, even as you begun the hard work of revision on “Citizen”. But, beware distraction. Just jot down the notes that you have and stay focused on the project at hand. Trust me, I am going through the same thing. I have another major idea trying to take center stage but it has to wait until Witchslinger and the ensuing series has its say.
Thanks for the kind words about Witchslinger!