I didn't know I could quilt!
I'm not using needles, thread, a sewing machine, or squares of fabric to craft my piece, though. No. I'm using approximately 34 drafts, my eyes, and the copy and paste function on my computer.
There's been a lot of exciting stuff going on with me writing-wise (okay, one super exciting thing), and I'll get to that in another post that I already started simmering. So in response to that, I had some editing to do.
And then I had one heckuva conversation with a writing friend of mine. She had some critiques of my work that resonated with me. They echoed sentiments I've received from other people gracious enough to grant me their reading time, but this friend was able to tell me why some changes need to be made to what I'm writing.
And it resonated with me. And I got excited about the changes I had to make because now I UNDERSTOOD why I had to make them.
And maybe even better than that, some of them weren't changes so much as regressions to previous drafts! So the work was already done!
That's when things got kind of interesting. In rewriting the first 3-7 chapters (because the numbering just isn't down pat yet), I looked back over writings I've been working my tail off on for the past 8 years or so. I read pieces I hadn't laid eyes on in 3-4 years. Some of the little details were so unnecessary. Some of the framework has stayed but the locations have changed or characters have been cut or condensed or the text has stayed the same but someone different says it.
And I have forgotten so much of what I created. It's fun to get to see that, to see how many ideas I've had for The Seed of Magic and how far its come.
And for that matter how far I've come in my writing. Because rewriting the beginning of this book now has been a real struggle. I'm trying my best to have fun with it, but at the same time I'm analyzing everything. I wrote 4 chapters but wasn't satisfied with the catalyst for certain events. I wasn't sure if I had enough magic in the beginning to entice readers into the world. Tried to figure out how to tease pieces while still giving things enough time to breathe and incorporate enough characterization.
I've sifted through what I've written and tried to stitch it together with new ideas and words, tying together the old and the new.
It's exciting. And it's exhausting.
But thank you, everyone, for your support as I feel my way through this process.
Comments