I started working on Gun vs. Sword (temporary title, until I think of something better) this week. It's a novel that I've been doing pre-writing for while Merm-8 is incubating and editing Z Company. I never intended it to be a main novel, and I plan to stop this and restart Merm-8 after it's gotten its critiques back. It's a trunk novel, but the idea's been in my head for years, since I read "The Darkness and the Light", and I've been gradually touching it every time I get ideas. Now I'm done with the pre-writing, so writing the text is obviously the next step.
Of course, that's not as easy as it sounds. Or as I remember. I haven't composed an original draft since I abandoned the last short story I was going to write (around the beginning of March). The first day sucked. Every sentence felt amateur, pedantic, lengthy, and garbage. I wrote 250 words and they all sucked. I felt like I couldn't write anymore. Like a bodybuilder come back to the gym.
The next day, I tried re-writing the beginning. I didn't change anything plot-wise, just took another shot. And it turned out better. Got farther too. Got to the point where I could name my character finally.
I wonder if anyone ever intentionally writes a trunk novel. I think the traditional context is that these are books a writer writes before he/she lands a deal/agent. Of course, since I have no deal or agent, every novel I've written is a trunk novel. So guess it doesn't matter.Labels: complaints, Gun vs. Sword, novel
