The most recent WIP that I mentioned in my previous newsletter–it is dead, I’m afraid.
This is the fifth or sixth time that this WIP died. Each iteration had the core premise in common, but had very different moods and settings and characters. I remember I was working on some version of it back in 2023, but I might have had an earlier version even before that. This WIP was born and died and was reborn so many times, I don’t remember which version I wrote when. It’s not like I’m going to use bits and pieces of the previous versions in the most current version. If that were possible (for my particular workflow), this WIP never would’ve “died.”
Before this most recently-dead WIP, there was another WIP after “Log Me Tender.”
Now I’m on the third WIP since “Log Me Tender.” I hope this one survives. This one, too, is not a new one. This one had, if I remember correctly, two different iterations. In this case also, each iteration shares the core premise.
Actually, maybe “premise” isn’t the correct word. It’s more like imagery. It’s not even a theme, and definitely not a plot. Yes, definitely, it’s closer to imagery, like a symbol. Or like a concept. Some settings/characters/plots inevitably do get attached to that symbol, based on my unique perception of “inevitable things”–but nevertheless, the concept can be turned around this way and that way, and from all those different angles, one at a time, I’m trying to see if there’ll be a full story with a beginning, middle, and end.
I really hope this one lives. Ideally I would like to publish two novels per year. I think that is a healthy tempo for me. In storytelling as well as all other aspects of my life, I think there is an ideal tempo.
Think about cooking. Cooking as fast as possible will not make the experience enjoyable and it might make the food worse. However, taking it too slow will also ruin the experience and the food. There is an ideal tempo for cooking specific types of foods at specific times and locations.
So it is with stories. Trying to finish the story as quickly as possible is no fun. However, slowing down indefinitely is (in my case) also definitely detrimental. The story dies even when it could have lived.
I think two novels per year would be ideal for me. My books aren’t that long (ideally). I’m not writing super long fantasy books that are 200,000 words long. My books (ideally) are well under 100,000 words. Two novels per year would be a leisurely tempo where I don’t forget how to walk, basically. (Like, imagine being forced to “rest” from walking for a week because you can only run one marathon per year. Or some such nonsensical thing. Although, is it better for people to run only one marathon per year? I don’t know. I’m not a marathoner. But you get the idea. Or not. This is an analogy.)