So, here it is, January ’25. The world is about to enter a long, dark corridor. Really, we’re pretty much in that corridor already, but we’re about to turn a corner and whatever dim light there was behind us is going to be cut off.
We’re entering an age where human life will be much less valuable. The people are on the ropes. What are we going to do? What can we do? Time will tell. I hope what’s coming is at least a good story.
Into this dark January I continue to work on my novel-in-progress provisionally entitled A Curse of Romans. I’m giving it about 3 hours a week right now, but it is a consistent 3 hours a week, and has been since 2022. I’m a little over 3/4ths of the way through a 4th draft. I keep thinking I should devote more time to it, but whether I do or not, I intend to get it to a final draft, probably 3 or 4 passes away.
This current draft is about getting my facts straight. I’m consistentizing my worldbuilding (which was improvised in the first draft), I’m trying to make the characters a little bit more interior-logical, line-editing some because some things I did on the fly were obviously bad and it’s embarrassing, plus I’m rewriting two big sections, one of which I did earlier and one of which is upcoming – i. e., the ending. The current ending must be scrapped and replaced.
Next draft will be a scene-by-scene out-loud retelling in the narrator’s voice. Draft five is shaping up to be crucial. That will be the one where not only will I be reading each scene aloud, I’ll be applying the Stanislavsky stuff that my MFA seminar was about. If I don’t get intentions right, the whole thing will fall apart. Also wondering if I should acquire a kilij, which my narrator character uses.
So yeah, it’s difficult, I’m going slow, but the work is going well. I like what it’s about, I like my characters, and I think this is a good story. Of course, anyone who ever eventually reads the thing will decide.
Current listening: The Mob Rules by Black Sabbath.
Broadcast From the Brain Radio 