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Another 1.0

A Year Ago

A year ago, 19th July 2008, I finished my first draft of The River at about 9p.m. It sure feels like a long time ago now, though. I didn’t imagine that I would be putting together a (vastly unreadable) first draft of Bukit Merah so shortly after that, but I did just that last night. At 12.30a.m. today, I completed work on my first draft and I think that just about completes the main task I had set out to do these holidays. Which is great because I have a month to stay away from this thing.

How Long Did It Take?

I can’t remember the exact date that I started, but the official date appears to be about the 7th of May or thereabouts, so that means I finished it in the very short time (for me, anyway) of under 60 days.

My file modification and creation meta data yield some other interesting facts. For example, I had finished the first six chapters (out of the eventual eighteen) by 27th May, which is, say, three weeks. I slowed down considerably at this point and from then until 19th June, I only did two more chapters, and wrote a bunch of fragments. I really stepped it up from there because by 27th June, I was about 80% done with the thing, although I didn’t know it then because I had no idea how much more I had ahead of me. So I think between the 19th and the 27th, I just went full steam ahead and gave it all I had. After this, I focused on finishing up, steering it towards the ending and putting the fragments I had down earlier to use. Ten-hour days, twelve-hour days, fourteen-hour days, et cetera. Eventually managed, so, there it is now.

Crazy Things

This is about the point where I begin to seriously doubt whatever it is I’ve just written. For one thing, it’s bound to need a lot of work from here. That’s a given. But its main problem will probably be that it’s full of crazy ideas that just come one after another. This wasn’t something I was expecting because I, uh, didn’t plan very much. It’s kind of like a children’s storybook, where things don’t always make adult, so-called real-world sense. One moment you’re in a bedroom and the next you’re riding a chicken, and just for the sake of it, in the next moment, you’re talking to a dysfunctional family of beluga whales.

I’m not sure I’m fully sold on that. Which begs the question: Why did I even bother going through with it then? Well, mainly because if I didn’t, I’d never get anything done.

Slow Poke

All of this makes me realise that I’m not really that slow in my work. I used to imagine that I was. I had this project that dragged on for years. It was an interesting diversion, though I was really going nowhere with it, but I suppose that was what gave me the impression that I was simply a slow worker. The River, while difficult to put together, didn’t actually take very long at all, if you think about it. I mean, here we are, a year from the day I actually began writing it, and it’s in some respectable shape at least. And this has been noticeably faster than The River, which really surprised me.

Though it’s certainly still not quite presentable yet.

Where To

And that’s what needs to happen from here, to hammer it into shape. I will probably have to convince myself about the overarching concept behind it, and then work out a few main targets for improvement. My guess is it’ll look like it needs more focus, some reinforcement of themes, and something to do with the nature of the characters. I’m an editing sort of person, I think. I can’t write anything too big and intricate once through without letting myself down in some ways. I reckon that going through it three or four times in detail will eventually become part of my modus operandi.

In the meantime, I’ll crack out the imaginary champagne and relax a bit. I need to pack my room. Yes, I think I’ll do that.

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© 2009 a modest odyssey.