OffRoadDiesel

The fear is real having just published my first story. Even as I published it, I could see changes and corrections but knew I'd edit it forever if I didn't submit it.

So far, my favorite comment is: "Write what you know."
Does it matter that I know I'm writing... FICTION?

I have to remember that I'm unique just like everyone else.

I’m working on the expanded version of It Wasn’t COVID. That story has a mind of its own. I need to learn brevity because I hear the dialog between characters in great detail and tend to write that out, making for very verbose dialog sections. I’ve been told I could reduce the size by 40+ percent, but I don’t know how to do that without reducing the color in the story. I suppose I find a way to strike a balance with some parts being heavy in dialog and others not so much. CindyTV tells me it would make a good movie with all the details I include which tells me it might not make such a good book.

Then there’s the 1st vs 3rd person writing. I found some of the characters take center stage enough that they could be the MC, so I’m going for 3rd person.

Next, chapters vs complete story. One thing I don’t like is reading stories with lots of short pieces. Just as I’m getting into it, I have to find the next chapter so if I do chapters, they will be several pages each. Starting off, breaking the story into days makes sense. Mostly.

I won’t start publishing until I have most of the story written. I may take a page from BurntRedstone’s book with his Shepherd series and have sub-stories about the MC’s life, but in my case it would be different MC’s for different stories.

This writing-thing is harder than it sounds. What have I got myself into??

I’m happy to correspond via email if anyone finds they have trouble sleeping. :-)