Wednesday, June 6, 2018

The Insecure Writer and Writing "The End"


Today is June's contribution to Alex Cavanaugh's Insecure Writers Support Group.

Why am I an Insecure Writer this month?

Because I finally finished my very first story, the fan fiction I’ve been working on for the last ten years, and this means I’m entering unknown territory.

Before I go any further, I should mention that this is only the first draft. There’s still a lot of editing to be done, both structurally and line editing-wise, but even so, this is the first time I’ve been able to write “The End” on anything, so I’m pretty excited. Well, perhaps “relieved” would be a better word. Woo hoo!


Photo courtesy of VisualHunt

I’m sure most of you established writers out there will feel an urge to roll your eyes at a rough draft that required ten years to write, but a decade ago I knew nothing about writing fiction. I had to learn so much about writing it's almost scary.  The first half of my story has gone through so many revisions I scarcely recognize the chapters anymore. But every time I learned about showing versus telling, or the proper way to do dialogue, or deep POV, or anything related to telling a good story, I had no choice but to go back and apply what I’d learned. I wanted this story to be the best it could be. 

Oh, did I mention I’m a slow writer too?

               
Yep, that’s pretty much sums up my life as a writer.

On top of all that, my focus over the past several years has been on  my other story--you know, the urban fantasy I can actually publish. Still, every time I found myself with a little extra time, I’d sneak back to the fan fic and make a little more progress.

Maybe it’s a guilty pleasure, but this fan fic is what seduced me into becoming a writer in the first place, back when I thought writing wasn’t for mortals. It’s the story that kept me going whenever the writing turned hard, especially when I realized I needed to rewrite a chapter based on some aspect of writing I’d just learned. I fell in love with my characters and wanted to see how everything worked out for them. To be honest, as much as I’m looking forward to publishing my urban fantasy, if I could only finish one story in my lifetime, I would choose the fan fic. What can I say? You never forget your first story. 

So what’s next? As I said before, I’m entering uncharted territory. I’ll find some beta readers who will happily point out where all the problems are, I'll keep working on the story until I’m satisfied, and then I'll upload it to Wattpad and celebrate. 

Now all I need to do is write “The End” on my urban fantasy. 


This month's question is: "What's harder for you to come up with, book titles or character names?"

Character names, definitely. Despite having worked on my fan fic for over ten years, several of my characters still have placeholder names. Oh, the shame!

ChemistKen

Update: Based on the comments, I realize I failed to mention what my story my fan fic was based on, so here's a hint. Check out the title of the blog. :)  


33 comments:

  1. Congratulations on hitting the end! We all need practice stories and practicing on something you know you'll never publish was a good idea.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Congrats! That's a huge accomplishment. I am a very slow writer too because of all the pulls on time. So I know how important it is to get to the end. I really haven't yet.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I started out by writing fan fiction too. Congrats on finishing that first draft!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Now I'm curious what your fan fiction is based on since it kept your interest for 10 years. Please tell me it's not Twilight.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I also feel like I've entered uncharted territory. I tried to explain it to a friend yesterday, someone who's a bit of a fitness junkie. I told her it's like I've started a new exercise routine that uses a bunch of muscles I never knew were there before.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Woot woot! Congrats! And I'd be happy to beta-read for you. I've been looking forward to actually reading some of your work.

    ReplyDelete
  7. That is a huge milestone, and don't downplay it. Early on when people would ask me what the hardest part of writing was, I'd tell them, "Finishing the first book." Once you've done that, you kind of know the territory. It's still a TON of learning, but knowing you can do it, have done it, that's huge. It's like raising a first child.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I know exactly how you feel, Ken, about writing one book while your heart is in another. Done that! Lots of reasons why that happens but sometimes, your muse knows best.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I didn't roll my eyes; I cheered. Congrats. I hope you celebrated with champagne and all the fixings. :-)

    Anna from elements of emaginette

    ReplyDelete
  10. Congrats, Ken! Don't think about how long it took. Think about all you learned in those 10 years.

    ReplyDelete
  11. "Roll your eyes at a rough draft that required ten years to write"? Definitely not! That is something most established writers would celebrate with you because we know. We KNOW. Ten years working on a project is amazing. Congratulations!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Woohoo! Congratulations! I'll be the last person to roll my eyes at 10 years. Sounds fast for my snail pace. Can't wait to hear how the new territory works for you.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Oh wow that's wonderful!! Congratulations!!! No eye rolling here. Happy for you! :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. No eye-rolling here, Ken. Inspires me to keep plugging away - I'm four years into mine. BTW, it took Jenny Lawson seven years to write her first, and subsequently best-selling book, Let's Pretend This Never Happened. So Woo Hoo is right!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I totally assumed it was HP fanfic! :)
    YAY on finishing the story - that's a huge accomplishment - and I agree that there's absolutely nothing like the first story. Mine was Star Trek TNG fan fiction :)

    ReplyDelete
  16. Congratulations!! That is amazing. Be proud of yourself for sneaking back and finishing it. Honestly, it is a testament to your dedication and persistence, both of which are critical traits for publishing. I am sure you will soon have your second "The End" written on your urban fantasy.

    ReplyDelete
  17. It's a worthy milestone to celebrate. Don't diminish it by comparing yourself to other writers.
    I'm now breaking out the virtual fireworks. Woosh!! Bang!! Pew!!! Zip zip zip BOOM!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Congratulations, Ken!!!!! So exciting! I'd love to hear more about the project. Maybe in another IWSG post? Happy IWSG day!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Wahoo, the end! Congratulations. Does a happy dance for you.

    ReplyDelete
  20. YAY for writing THE END! It's a great feeling. Definitely something to celebrate, sending many muggle good wishes your way!

    ReplyDelete
  21. The first draft of anything is the hardest for me. Getting all those "fresh" ideas down. I love rewrites/revision because I can "flesh" out the characters and ideas the were so difficult to write out. Congrats on getting this far, especially while writing on other projects. Kudos.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Huge congrats!! That is such a good feeling. I don't know how anyone could roll their eyes at that. It's a huge accomplishment!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Congratulations! That's fantastic. There is a lot of marvelous fanfiction out there. I started out writing Harry Potter fanfiction... and I think it's still out there somewhere.

    ReplyDelete
  24. My fan fiction is still probably my most popular work. Many authors hone their craft by writing fic. So congrats on the big finish!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Writing "The End" is one heck of an accomplishment, so hurray for you. I'm a slow writer, too. Sometimes I just know I'm never going to finish a story, but then something at the front of my brain kicks in, and viola...The End comes into sight.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Congratulations!
    Thousands of writers with unfinished first drafts never get to write 'The End'. It's a major accomplishment.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Congrats! It's always a sweet feeling getting to the end and hopefully this is the first of many. My first drafts are always a mess, but sounds like you've done a lot of the hard work with revisions already, so that's great.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Congratulations, Ken! I'm wondering how long that story must be. What an accomplishment! I wish I could finish my novel-length stories. You've done something super awesome, so go celebrate. I look forward to reading it on Wattpad!

    ReplyDelete
  29. Congrats, Ken. It doesn't matter how long it took or what kind of story, it's always worth celebrating finishing the first draft.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Woo hoo! Happy dancing for you. It's a big deal to write 'The End.' I was supposed to be done with my current story in February. Guess what? It's not done yet.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Well done! It took me almost ten years and seven failed drafts to finish my first story, so you're really not alone. :-D

    ReplyDelete