Untitled First Draft

This pawn's story is told!

I’ve finished the first draft of my chess novel about an Under 11 team of underdogs. By first draft, I mean the longhand creative splurge that is overlong, overwordy and full of ideas and plot lines that need to be culled mercilessly.

I actually finished it in June, just before the silly season at work started (end of year reports, data entry, parents evenings etc). I started it in August last year, so it’s taken ten months. Would have been quicker if not for real life (moving house, doing up new house, finding a job, starting new job). I’m pleased it’s written, as it’s a story I’ve been meaning to tell for some time, but the thought of all the work that needs to be done on it (typing it up for one thing) is intimidating. There’s also the small matter of diluting the chess so it doesn’t get in the way of the plot. After all, not everyone is fascinated by chess. And it needs a title.

I’m putting it aside for now, and returning to a Steampunk Work In Progress that hasn’t progressed for five years. You get all these characters in your head, and you don’t tell their stories, they keep running around in there, like long lost friends you need to try harder to stay in touch with.

It’s the Summer Holiday now, so I’m hoping to write a good portion of the Steampunk novel in first draft. Maybe half. It won’t be a long book, 100,000 words or so. The good news is, this one does have a title, one of the few times I’ve known a title before writing the story. Lost Company, inspired by the old Big Country song, Lost Patrol.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 27th, 2010 at 9:41 am and is filed under Short Story. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.