Writing and thoughts

I did a brainstorm with a writing friend the other day, and one of the things I keep circling around is how un-built out this world is. For my last two books I was able to base some elements of the world on historical periods, which feels like a cheat code, especially if you don’t feel super confident in your world building abilities. But what I’ve found when making a world like that is that it has to be there (for me) from draft one. 

My last MS was viking inspired and I knew it from the start. And the MS before that was based on early 1900s Austria/germany. I’ve also done another Austrian world (Vienna in the age of Mozart). But for this book I didn’t center any time period, so it just feels ~spooky~. Which means I need to graft details and build the world after I’ve created the story. Normally I like for them to flow together, building story and world at the same time, along with the characters.

As of thursday I finished draft 2 on witch book. This is such a weirdly personal book for me, but also not a book I would have a hard time subbing. I’ve had some projects where they’re just me rethinking events in my life, but are so personal and important that I can’t share them with anyone. Not great for an actual writing career but I think of them as good practice and training and probably important for my soul in general.

Witch book has a lot of me in it, but it thankfully isn’t that type of project. My goals for it are 

1 - get it finished. I spun my wheels a lot with Lady Mozart, a project I had no passion for, and it showed. This book has an easier path to being finished thankfully. I need to stop writing vaporware. 

2 - Work on the atmosphere, and world-building. In my mind witch book has a lot of atmosphere. The world building isn’t there yet, but that is what draft 3 is for.

3 - Create really real characters. I want them to feel alive and not just like stock characters. 

4- Really do a thoughtful revision for draft 3. A lot of the time I will run into a revision and get really good at outlining the first act, but then I wing it for the rest of the book. On this draft I want everything to be more thoughtful. I’ll pick it back up in a few days, because I’m also forcing myself to put it down and not start revising right away. It needs a little settle time.

I’m really excited about this project.