Two Novels: A Reflection on 2008

Yeah, so I decided I would actually make my "two (finished) novel drafts" goal tonight, since I already had one finished and my JulNoWriMo novel was pretty close to being done...

And really, with that one (Battlefield: Red), it was more of just getting the energy to actually make it to the finish line, since I remembered that when I gave up on writing anymore of it when I hit 50k on July 31, I was pretty close to where I wanted it to end.

So, for the first time in months, I opened that MS Word document, and scrolled down to the bottom. I skimmed a few of the last pages I had written (the ones I'd slammed out in July), and then went about just getting it to the last bit. I was even already in the final scene, more or less, so I knew I could probably manage to get it out in one sitting...

It ended up taking me under 700 words to get to the end, perhaps fifteen minutes or half an hour of somewhat distract writing...

Which made me wonder...

Why didn't I do this back in August? I mean, seriously! I know I rushed a bit to the end once I hit 50k, but...700 words? Sheesh.

But now I have it done, too, even though I kind of consider Battlefield: Red a failure as a novel draft. Technically, it's more like half a novel, anyway, or a very anemic first draft. It's either going to be Part One of a two-part novel (Battlefield: Green, or the "sequel" being the other part), or it will get beefed up enough to be a novel in its own right, in which case Green will be the...actual...sequel.

Unless I want to make the story into a trilogy, which seems more deserving of life than a...duet? I don't even know what to call it.

But the story, if I remember correctly, kind of sucks. Not much really seems to happen in Battlefield: Red, and while I do like the characters and the premise...it just...failed. Nobody has read this thing but me, and I kind of want to keep it that way.

Heh.

But actually, I read over a few pages of Larghetto (The Eleventh, my NaNo for this year), and I wasn't totally repulsed by it. I consider this a huge breakthrough, since I sort of twitch whenever I look at any text from Highness and I don't even want to look at Battlefield: Red for a looong time.

Maybe it's because Larghetto isn't the end of the series, and I have three more books to go before I realize it wasn't worth it...but hey! Not being totally repulsed by a book you've written is a GOOD thing, right?

So...2008, when looking at my written stuff...

I wrote two novels, and sort of started two others. There was my little Travels Through Dreamland escapade earlier in the year (around February, if my memory serves me) and my GothNoWriMo 20k start on Azami (that was my October "warm up" for NaNo). I won't exactly go back to Dreamland...sort of. Actually, you could say I'm about to - I stole Robert and Tawny and brought them into The Eleventh. The next book, Innocentemente (which might get a name change), opens with Robert and Tawny.

Heh.

I may or may not ever continue with Azami, but I don't know. For now, I like working on The Eleventh.

So...my third novel is actually something that doesn't repulse me. I think this is progress. Maybe 2008 wasn't such a horrible year, after all. And you know what they say - adversity breeds greatness.

Or whatever it is.