20,000 Words In: Reflections on "Oont"

As regular readers of this blog know, I've been torturing you with my mad writing skillz. "Oont," which started out as a short story, is now close to hitting 20,000 words, with no end, nor distinct plot, in sight. The last installment is perhaps the weakest of them all, but I know this, knowing all this effort is just that: effort, into a first draft of something that could possibly become a novel.

It's rough. In parts, it's skimpy on the detail. Part of that is on purpose. Part of that is just accidental as I work to get thoughts down on paper -- or at least in ether -- in order to have a first draft to revise. In the past, I've tended to obsess with revision, trying hard to get everything at the beginning right before it's done. Not with this one, or with some of the other things I'm working on. Getting a complete first draft is the goal, with major revisions to come later. I think I can prove to be well-disciplined at revision, especially since I have a heartless editor in the guise of my wife, who isn't shy (thank heaven) in pointing out things that are wrong, stupid, or just plain silly.

"Oont," you most unfortunate readers, will continue, though I confess to being stuck on it at the moment. Too much thinking, not enough action. Too much after the fact, not enough right now. At least that's my current assessment. It might be that magical time to put it away for a while, but then again, that conflicts with my goal of having a finished draft to play with. So stuck or not, I'll keep pounding away at the keyboard.

Goal the First: Complete a first draft.

Goal the Second: DO NOT end up sounding like this: