by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
After about three years of hard work, I’m now really in the zone when it comes to this novel I’m working on. I’m well on my way to — in a few months — wrapping up something akin to a (proto) first draft. It’s not something I would want to show anyone, but it’s a shit ton better than the novel I tried to work on about a decade ago that was pure crap.
Should I finish this first draft, it will be the first serious first draft I’ve ever written. Then I can give myself a month to read and think and then throw myself into a real, honest-to-God second draft that I can then turn around and show beta readers.
There are still a lot of things I don’t know.
Given that the Trump Era is over, will anyone want to read a novel which uses gauzy allegorical subtext to rant about the excesses of that fucked up era. I think they will because if I actually manage to sell this thing, by the time post-production is over Congress will be in Republican hands and we’re all going to be worried that MAGA is going to come roaring back in 2024.
Ta-da! Instant audience!
But, in general, I’m quite pleased with how strong this novel’s structure is. I still have a massive amount of reading to do to shore up the characters. Right now, too many of them are just place holder “moods” rather than fully developed people you want to hang out with.
I have managed to get this far this time around because I’ve simply worn myself out. I’ve managed to get to the point where I’m not nearly as demanding upon myself when it comes to this first draft. It’s just a first draft and no one is going to read it.
It’s the second draft I have to worry about.
