Dear Readers,
I read something recently that
was forwarded to me via a ‘Tweet.’ The link was to ‘Pixar’s 22 Rules of
Storytelling.’ Rule #8 hit me like a blaster between the eyes.
#8: Finish
your story, let go even if it's not perfect. In an ideal world you have both,
but move on. Do better next time.
Recently I posted my first novel
“The Helavite War” on Kindle for you to read. This volume was originally
written in 1990. I have never had a child, but I imagine I was as proud of this
volume as a first-time mother. I labored over it. I endeavored to proof it and
fine tune it. In 1991 I wrote the second volume of the Star Traveler Series,
“The Heirs of Henu.” By the time I was halfway through that book, I knew I was
going to write a trilogy. I finished the third volume “Old Friends/New Enemies”
in 1992.
But I kept going back to the
first volume - endlessly tweaking it.
I felt I found my writer’s voice by the third volume. I
wanted to improve the first book. I did an extensive rewrite. I changed long
passages of prose to dialogue because by now my characters had found their voices.
A reader told me if I thought I
found my voice in volume three then I
learned to sing in volume four. I was
encouraged. I wanted to take the characters I had grown to love further. So
between 1990 and 1995 I wrote a volume a year resulting in six books of the Star
Traveler Series.
And then I deserted it. My mind
was brimming with more ideas for the series. More volumes were planned (outlined
in a drawer), but I still believed I could rewrite the first novel and make it
better, stronger, cleaner.
So the series sat untouched for
seventeen years on my shelf. The soft copy moved from computer to computer
through an endless number of software upgrades. Meanwhile, I wrote five
middle-school fantasies. I wrote a bi-weekly, non-fiction column for four years
for the local newspaper. I created and wrote the blog you are currently reading.
February 2012, I started the
seventh volume of the Star Traveler Series and after 68 pages I was back at the
first volume tweaking again. I was obsessing even after a layoff of over
seventeen years. I needed to move on or I would never get another volume of the
series completed.
So, I threw up my hands. I
decided I was finished fiddling with volume one. I let go. It’s not perfect, but I hope you will find the characters
compelling enough to come back and visit them again as I post the succeeding
five volumes of the series to Kindle.
I know you will enjoy reading the
First Draft of the Seventh Volume of the Star Traveler Series, “The Beast
Within” as I post it here over the next few months.
I let go and moved on. The
completion of Volume Seven is the result. Hopefully, I did better this time. –Theresa Snyder-
Join me here tomorrow for the next episode of "The Beast Within."
