I think in general we as human beings like to think we’re on top of things. That we have a pretty good bead on not just where we are, but where we’ve been, and where we’re going.
I’m working on Lesson 16 of How to Write a Novel this morning, which is about voice and tone, and to show writers what I’m talking about, was digging through my fiction backlist for demo material for the lesson. I’m adding and then discussing the first couple of paragraphs of various published novels to demonstrate how changing voice and tone changes reader expectations and why mastering this is a crucial skill…
How could that go wrong?
Well, more like, “How could that go sideways?”
So this morning, the jury’s back, and the verdict on that whole “on top of things” business is: Nope. Not so much…
Because I came across not one, but two really good Cadence Drake novel starts that I completely forgot I’d written.
And we’re not talking about running a thousand words up a flagpole to see who salutes.
We’re talking 13,000 words on one…, 8000 words on another… and when I found these, I remembered a third that had five or six chapters in it and that I now can’t find, but I do remember that it featured the story of who Tangerine, the cheerful hairdresser in HTCB, really was.
Can’t find that one, of course, but finding the two I completely forgot, I now also have the third one in my head as a story I just have to tell.
Lost a chunk of time on the lesson hunting through my hard drives and backups. Getting back to work now. But after I write The Wishbone Conspiracy, I have some really solid starts for THREE more Cadence Drake novels.
Sheesh…
Tangerine was one of my favourite side characters from HTCB! Every now and then the quote about schkloppitters comes running through my head out of nowhere, and suddenly I’m having a better day than I was before.
I’m licking my chops for those Cadence Drake novels! Just have to be patient, I guess. Finding those beginnings you forgot are like finding buried treasure.
At least you found them. I’m wondering now what’s sitting on the hard drives of the two computers that quit turning on ’cause the switch broke and I couldn’t afford to replace the switch … Until I could replace the entire computer and start over again. Although the half dozen thumb drives are semi adequate back ups … I think … I love finding things I’d forgotten I’d started. Have fun with them when you get to their finishing.
Get a couple of hard drive enclosures, remove the drives, and use them as USBs. You can access everything on them that way. It’s easy & the enclosures cost no more than $10 each on Amazon or ebay.
Listen to Lori. Look up HDD enclosure or Hard Drive Dock. I believe I spent less than $50 to get one that would read drives from both laptop and desktop computers.
If you can use a screwdriver, you can use one of these.
At least you’ll never run out of material…Time that’s another thing.
Are you following the flap about Pateon/PayPal? They’re not exactly in favor of free speech.
I’m quitting Patreon and PayPal. Currently looking for ways to continue to support my favorite artists. Looking at SubscribeStar–provided they can find a payment platform. PayPal defunded them, you see.
It’s getting horrible Orwellian. Am I writing contemporary romance or post-apocalyptic? How would they be different, I’m asking myself.
I’m following. Holding my breath, trying to figure out how the world works now. These are not good times.
So glad to hear you’re picking up Tangerine’s story!
And about the found wordage…happens a LOT, and often I have no idea what those story starts were meant to be.
I have one sitting on my hard drive that’s 44,000+ words in…