November is for Novels…
After spending the last few years writing iOS developer books for Apress, it was time for me to dedicate more time to actual app development in 2011. I released NovelRank for the iPhone earlier this year (now available as a free download in the App Store), and I’m currently hard at work on my next iOS app, which I hope to have finished before December (details to follow soon).
And while I’ve truly enjoyed being immersed in UI design work and Objective-C code the last several months, I’m starting to feel that old writing itch bubbling to the surface again. Not to write non-fiction developer books again, but a return to my roots writing fiction.
Most of you only know me as a developer, but yes, once upon a time, when I wasn’t busy programming, my free time was spent working on a novel. After two long years of sporatically working on it in-between client projects, I finally finished it. That was back in 1999. Hard to believe it was that long ago. I was much younger then, and it showed in my writing. Since then, I co-founded and sold an ebook publishing company with my good friend Dave Mark, as well as written and published a few professional books through Apress. Along the way, I’ve learned quite a bit about copywriting, editing, and the publishing process.
So why was my novel never published? At the time, I didn’t think it was ready. Now, upon taking the manuscript off the shelf and blowing off 12 years of dust, I cringe at some of that early writing (confirming my initial suspicions). Although some of it actually holds up quite well, much of it is amateurish and in desperate need of rewriting. In fact, I’m not happy with much of the novel’s plot structure. So what do I plan to do? Throw it out and start from scratch.
To some, that may sound crazy. But to me, it feels refreshing. I was never satisfied with the original manuscript and I don’t think any amount of revising is going to fix it. In my opinion, the best solution is to start over at page one with a new outline that can fix all of the first draft’s problems.
I’ve read that Arthur Golden rewrote Memoirs of a Geisha from scratch three times before he was happy with it. Hopefully, I’ll only have to rewrite mine twice (not counting the dozens of revisions that will surely follow). I welcome the challenge and I’ve already completed a new outline and notes.
To help expedite the writing, I’m determined to participate in NaNoWriMo (http://www.nanowrimo.org/) this year! Every November, I plan to do it, yet my busy work schedule always gets in the way. I’m sure my schedule will be just as hectic this November with app development projects, but I’m not getting any younger, so I’m planning ahead to hopefully carve out a little writing time each day (even if it means writing at night). Keep your fingers crossed and wish me luck!
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