The “Lost Film” novella is coming along swimmingly and I’m pretty much keeping up a 1,000 word-a-day output on it, which is brilliant for me. My original plan - certainly, it’s the one I told Stephen Bacon, when he mentioned that he’d never worked on anything novella-length - was for 30,000 words in first draft but I’m currently at 39k words and the ending is still a little way off.
But am I enjoying it? Absolutely. The draft is a mess (as all of my first drafts are), the timelines don’t work, some of the characters change direction halfway through and I know it’ll be a nightmare to make it all work but it’s there. That’s most of the battle with creative writing - getting the damned thing down in the first place.
Something’s working though - parts of the plot are dropping into place, just in time and characters are revealing hitherto unseen sides that make the story zip along - and I have a good feeling about the whole thing. I have the voice mostly right (and what I don’t, I can rework) and I think I’m going to be able to sell the climax (and trust me, it’s going to be a big sell!).
I reckon another week or two and the first draft’ll be sorted. Then I’ll let it breathe for a while (and will begin working on notes for the “80s/kids/gash in time” project, which is brewing nicely), before attacking the 2nd draft and getting it out to my pre-readers.
And in the meantime, here’s a picture (which I found on Flickr, though mcmorgan08’s photostream) of a cinema that one of Roger Sinclair’s films might have been shown at!
But am I enjoying it? Absolutely. The draft is a mess (as all of my first drafts are), the timelines don’t work, some of the characters change direction halfway through and I know it’ll be a nightmare to make it all work but it’s there. That’s most of the battle with creative writing - getting the damned thing down in the first place.
Something’s working though - parts of the plot are dropping into place, just in time and characters are revealing hitherto unseen sides that make the story zip along - and I have a good feeling about the whole thing. I have the voice mostly right (and what I don’t, I can rework) and I think I’m going to be able to sell the climax (and trust me, it’s going to be a big sell!).
I reckon another week or two and the first draft’ll be sorted. Then I’ll let it breathe for a while (and will begin working on notes for the “80s/kids/gash in time” project, which is brewing nicely), before attacking the 2nd draft and getting it out to my pre-readers.
And in the meantime, here’s a picture (which I found on Flickr, though mcmorgan08’s photostream) of a cinema that one of Roger Sinclair’s films might have been shown at!
Photograph by M C Morgan
Mark-
ReplyDeleteI'm chuffed to have a photo on your writing blog. Lost Film sounds like a treat to write - and worth the wait on this end.
Luck
- m
Hi Mike
ReplyDeleteThanks very much, I appreciate your taking hte time to comment. The story is going well and I'm enjoying it, which is a major bonus and I hope I manage to wrangle it into shape for the 2nd draft!
Your pictures have been a godsend, looking through them to see the people and transport and townscapes - there's not much that's specifically 1976, but there's enough that I needed to do research. If I get it published, I'll give you a mention in the acknowledgements!
All the best
Mark