Slow, but Steady
Hello everyone! I hope your winters have been kind to you. Winter is always a slower season for me. The cold and dark weather makes me want to burrow in a blanket. That said, I still made efforts to get out of the house and also work on my novel.
In January, I decided to sign up for a dance class. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, but there was always a reason not to do it. Finally, I decided the time was now. I found a dance studio near my house and signed up for the first semester of the new year. Since then, I’ve been taking weekly adult ballet courses.
I never did dance as a kid, besides some choreography in school musicals. Those experiences were always frustrating because we had a time limit to learn the steps, and I never felt like I could fully grasp everything in the time we had together. It was stressful getting onstage knowing I wasn’t 100% confident in my movements.
But in a class for “absolute beginners,” pretty much everyone is at the same level. Not to mention, there is no performance we’re working towards—it’s all just learning for the sake of learning. That can be really freeing. It’s just about trying your best and learning something new.
Doing dance in addition to my weekly community orchestra practices has made me feel more connected to the outer world. When you work from home, it’s easy to just stay put and only leave the house once in a while. I think these experiences have helped me regain inspiration as well. Now, I’m starting to think about what else I can do as an after work activity.
And now… onto my novel progress…
I’ve pushed through the first nine or so chapters out of twenty-eight! The first few chapters of the book are definitely the strongest, so I was mostly just running over what was already there with a fine-toothed comb and rewriting my phrasing.
But after I passed that, I’m discovering harsher edits that need to be made. I’ve found entire scenes that need to be deleted, others that need to be moved into far later into the story.
I’ve noticed a pattern in some scenes where I begin with dialogue that’s completely irrelevant to the story for the sake of realism. For example, the morning after a party, Will (our protagonist) goes over to a classmate’s house. The people there are discussing some drama that happened at the party that Will didn’t witness. The conversation then gradually turns to Will, with people asking him what he’d been up to the night before.
Reading the scene now, I can see how pointless the dialogue that comes before is. It slows down the flow, adds details that never come up again, and mentions characters that never get talked about again. It’s just not necessary. In real life, the conversation would probably play out that way. But stories aren’t real life. Readers are looking for realism, but they don’t need 100% realism. Having time and distance away from the story has made it easier for me to see that. The scene has been cut down considerably and changed to a phone call, so the main characters involved in the scene can cut right to the chase.
I’ve also realized I revealed some character details way too soon. Because of this, the way Will interacts with certain characters makes little sense. While Will is a hesitant person based on his past experiences, the way he treats his new friends in the story feels a bit unbelievable when he knows so many personal details about them. But if there’s more mystery surrounding these characters, his wariness is more understandable, and the way he reacts negatively to events later in the story feels less contrived. It’s Less “conflict for the sake of conflict.”
So, that means cutting out even more scenes, changing them to remove those details, and finding new places to add this information. It’s an interesting challenge, and I feel excited by it instead of daunted. It turns out this story has always been “worth” telling, but I didn’t have the right skills to tell it just yet.
It’s been interesting re-immersing myself into the world of I Knew Him. It’s been almost five years since the book first came out—I don’t think I was ready until now to return. Having time and distance away from the story has given me new perspective on the characters. It’s also a bit like coming home. This world was a constant for years before I finally penned the version that was published. It’s nice to return to it, older and wiser.
In addition to working on the book, I’ve also acquired some new accessories for my writing station. They make the writing process both easier and more fun. Check it out!
Anyway, that’s all I have to share for now! I hope you’re all doing well and staying healthy. See you next time!