So, some actual news on current works in progress now. I completed the first draft of Tomb of the Aeons, the third Seraph adventure last night and decided I’ll post a little teaser here. So here’s the opening paragraph.
“The great dunes at first seem as unchanging as the aeons, yet one soon learns they are not fixed things, but as mutable and storm-ridden as an ocean. The sands constantly shift, reforming and remaking themselves under the influence of wind and the baleful gaze of the sun, so that one is always looking at a frozen moment in perpetual chaos.”
A bit of background, it’s set in 1941 in the North African campaign as the German reinforcements counter attack against the Allies offensive and this time, the protagonist is a German panzer commander.
Okay so enough of the spoilerz:
It’s always probably the most enjoyable thing, writing the climax (well it should be if you’ve planned it right I always seem to fly through them as they’re often the most exciting bit).
Yet the fleeting momentary elation of getting through 22k’s worth of words is always balanced by the knowledge that you’ve now got to go back, cut, edit, polish and tidy up. But to be a writer, you’ve got to be good re-writer (Michener).
Someone said, the first draft is the only truly creative part of writing and it’s true, up to a point Lord Copper (ie. not). One of the real challenges is taming the wild flood of ideas and prose and presenting them in something a bit more logical, structured and coherent, without battering every ounce of creativity out of it.
It’s always a bit daunting to approach and so I always leave it a little while to percolate (ie I doss around for a bit), so I can come back with a set of fresh eyes. Still, I’m pretty pleased with Tomb, so more on this anon.
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