Have you ever pulled out a really old story and reworked it? What happened?
That's the question being asked this month by Insecure Writer's Support Group, an online writer's support group that encourages us to share our writing experiences with a monthly blog post. So jump right in, if you're so inclined.
Right now I'm editing Section 04 of five sections for my current work in progress, Rivers of Stone, a historical novel set in 1840s Canada. Each day right now, the words are humming right along. My heroine goes from one pickle to the next. I still have to resolve the ending: a) very sad, b) happy for now, or c) happy ever after. The reality is that not all stories end well. I've written two endings, with a third on its way! By about May, I hope to send the edited draft off to beta readers.
What's next? I'm already thinking about what's next. Should I pull out an old story? I have a few sort of cooking on the back burner. I'd love to know which one YOU might want to read.
1) GRANNY VAMPIRE AND THE KISS OF . . . Here, Granny is dumped in a retirement home to find herself surrounded by a bevy of supernormal characters -- on staff. How does she protect herself and her new friends? (on deck: about 15 pages)
2) SPACE STATION DARK . . . Rowena's mother, hungry for drugs, sold her to a space station at age 9. Not sure how she can survive, Rowena, now 16, tries to hide her special skill: She changes color with extreme emotion and wonders what other skills she might have. At least until she meets and is attracted to Daglynd, a rough space hunter who collects people like her. (already have about a paragraph)
3) IN SEARCH OF UNICORNS . . . Dawn, a curator at a medieval museum in New York, tracks a set of unicorn tapestries to France to unravel the mystery behind their origin. Along the way, she travels to Stirling Castle in Scotland and falls in love with the man who holds the original cartoons for the unicorn tapestries now housed at the Museum of Middle Ages in Paris. (currently about 20 pages)
4) MOTHERS DON'T DIE . . . This really is an old story, left in a drawer for the last decade. A family goes camping in the wilds of eastern Washington to discover a dead body while out on a walk. Hubby leaves wife and daughter at the campground to go for the police. When he returns with the police, their tent is empty, and the body is gone. What happened? Can this family be reunited? (about 60K words)
This was fun. I was surprised to see how many choices are possible, some old, some new.
One issue that remains: As an OTA (older than average) writer, I'm not so sure how many projects I can work on and successfully complete. . . and I didn't list any of the spinoff novels for my historical fiction series involving various members of the McDonnell clan (including one set during the suffragette era in England). Does anyone else worry about running out of stamina?
Meanwhile, may all your writing goals for the coming month be met. I think spring just might be on its way!
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| Flowering Cherry, Manito Park, Spokane |
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