Sunday, April 11, 2010

One uh Dem Books: NT

It's still in concept, and has been for three years, so I'll just use its working initials: NT.

My brother and I began working on it together as a joint concept. We worked up plots, characters, I wrote some rough scenes, we talked about settings, where to take it, how to handle the storyline.

It's a futuristic space fantasy sci-fi, and from what we gather, while it's not a 100% original topic, it is a topic that hasn't been as deeply explored as we'd like, nor has it been explored to our satisfaction. Thus the little bit of secrecy on my part regarding the plot line.

A voice from the back: Hey Eric! Get to the fucking point!

All right, all right... fine.

NT is one of THOSE BOOKS!

If you write, and if you've written more than one or two novels (and I don't give a shit if it's published or not, just that you finished the book, and put all your effort into making it great), then you know what I mean. You probably have one of those books in your drawer.

See, I'm 100k words into the dang thing, and haven't even gotten started. I spun circles. Weightless. Battles. Over-blown dramatic scenes I can't stand to read. More corny kernels than Nebraska, more cheese than Wisconsin.

See, this post was supposed to be an EXCERPT from that book, but I can't find a good quote!

It's ~that bad~.

Yes. Truly. It's that bad.

But, I still believe the concept is sound, I just had the wrong voice, the wrong plot, the right characters, the right planet, the right setting, but the wrong storyteller.

My brother and I discussed it the other day at lunch, touched the topic.

You wanna get back to writing NT? I asked.

Sure.

All right then.

But really, I'm still not sure I'm ready to get back into it. Not yet. Maybe later this summer, but not right this second.

It's just one uh dem books, eh, one uh dem books.


- Eric

2 comments:

dolorah said...

I felt that way about my trilogy for a long time. Through the blogging community - and a writer's group - I was finally able to get back to revising. Having someone else read it and give constructive feedback was great for my renewed love for my pride and joy.

I still have some revisions left on the first novel from the round of feedback, but at least now I am looking forward to working on it. I've even re-opened the other two and gotten excited about them.

Post some short pieces from the novel once in a while and ask for feedback. That could help you get back into the work.

........dhole

Eric W. Trant said...

Thanks D!

I do love the concept, but I'd probably re-write from the beginning, using the established scenery and characters.

Or, maybe I'm just too self-conscious. I never feel a piece is finished, nor that it's good enough. At some point, I just quit and move on to another piece.

I sent a short-story anthology to a friend of mine. She said the best story in there was the one I'd picked up out of the trash can and included anyway! It thought it was my worst work!

See. You never know.

- Eric