On Writing

Since I’ve been working like crazy and finally finished my Assassin revisions, I gave myself a rare weekend off. I absolutely did nothing all weekend but read books, eat junk food, and watch my A-Team DVDs. Good times. 😎

But now, it’s time to get back to work. First up: writing a rough draft of Assassin 2. I hope to get that done by the end of July/first of August. We’ll see how it goes. Then, I need to think about Assassin 3, crank out another fantasy idea I have, and maybe play around with this Southern contemporary I want to work on.

Oh yeah, I also need to whittle down my TBR pile, update the Web site, and do some promo stuff for Jinx. I need a clone. Sigh.

What about you? Got any projects you want to get done now that it’s officially summer?

I finished up the Assassin revisions last night. Huzzah! The new, shiny book has been e-mailed to my agent for her perusal. I’m sure she’ll have some more suggestions for me on how to tweak it, but for now, it’s done.

This is probably the hardest book I’ve ever written. I’ve been wanting to write a book about an assassin for about seven years now. Over the years, I’ve taken a couple different stabs at it. The book started out as an epic fantasy. But I’m not really good writing about swords and horses and castles. So I put that aside and started a new epic fantasy. Again, it sucked. And I finally realized I needed to write something set in a more modern, contemporary world. Somewhere along the way, I got the idea for Karma Girl and started writing that.

But in between writing the Bigtime books, I wanted to start a new series, so I sent a bunch of proposals to my agent. She picked the Assassin one and basically said, “Write this one. Now.”

So I wrote it and sent it to her. She wanted me to revise it. So I did. Other people read it. We got some more feedback on the book. And now, I’ve revised it again. We’re talking major revision here. This time, I gutted the last half of the book. Yep, I threw away about 50,000 words and rewrote the back half. Characters, scenes, story arcs, all of it changed. But the book is much, much better because of it.

And I did all this in three weeks. I’ve pretty much been working on the revisions nonstop, three, fours hours every night, half of the weekends. But now, it’s done, and I’m taking a few days off from writing — before I start plotting out Assassin 2.

But you know what? Rewriting the last half of the book was probably some of the easiest work I’ve ever done. Makes me think I’ve finally found my groove with this series. After seven years, it’s about time, ain’t it? 😎

So I’ve been working on revisions for my Assassin book. I’ve just finished up the big battle scene at the end, and now I’m working on the wrapup chapters.

In other words, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I’m really going to push myself and try to finish the revisions by the end of the weekend. That way, I can read through it next week and start editing/polishing.

So I’ll basically be in the dark interior of the computer room all weekend. Not very exciting or glamorous, but hey, at least the air conditioning’s back on now. 😎

What about you guys? Anybody got big plans for the weekend?

Wheezley (the significant other) and I had an interesting discussion a few days ago. We were talking about hobbies and how geeky some of ours are. Wheezley builds model tanks, and we both enjoy Dungeons & Dragons-style gaming. I also said reading was a hobby of mine (although it’s really more like a passion, bordering on addiction).

To which Wheezley responded: Reading’s not a hobby, it’s a necessity.

Of course in one sense, reading is a necessity. You have to read e-mails and street signs and the label on the soup can at the grocery store. But Wheezley meant that reading books is a necessity.

He’s right.

I’ve learned and grown so much as a writer from reading other people’s books. Not to mention the hours and hours of pleasure of being transported into another world. In using my imagination to fill in the details. In squealing with delight when the hero triumphs and the villain gets what’s coming to him. I love reading so much I couldn’t ever imagine not doing it.

I think reading keeps your brain active, lets you learn about different folks, places, and culture, and helps you put yourself in someone else’s shoes for a few hours. Books broaden your horizons, something that’s always important.

So yeah, to me, reading is a necessity. I just need to make time to do more of it. And whittle down my ever-increasing TBR pile. :rolleyes:

What do you think? Hobby or necessity?