Don't Be Afraid

Guys, I am in desperate need of your help. I need you to keep me in-line this summer. I need to blog a minimum of once a week. And since virtually all I'll be doing is reading and writing, it shouldn't be too hard to remember my blog . . . which is about writing and reading. However, if I fail to do so, I need you to rampage me with e-mails, tweets, comments -- heck, phone calls if you must!

Anyway, my last college class ended last Friday, so now I have loads of extra free time. I don't want it to be like last summer, where I made a goal to write a book, but only got fifteen-thousand words done. :/ Pathetic. Right now I'm working on the second draft of LUX. It needs to be completed before July ends, and I'm only nine-thousand words in. I can do this. I've arranged to be at the library -- or locked in my bedroom -- four hours of the day. Everyone in the family is alright with this arrangement. What does this mean for my writing? It means that I should be completing an average of three-thousand words a day. I am so going to do this.

When I finished the first draft of LUX I was so done with the story; I knew it was broken. And so I avoided it. I worked on other projects. I avoided it. I stopped projects and moved on to new ones without ever finishing anything. I avoided it. It happened a few weeks ago. My aunt saw that I'd completed a novel, and she encouraged me to get it published. I knew LUX was crap -- the writing sucked, the characters were all wrong, the plot and pacing were majorly screwd up -- and so I told her there was no way. But it bugged me for a few days. Until finally I realized something: revising is just as important -- it's more important -- than the drafting. My writing was never going to improve until I buckled down, did the work (even if I didn't want to), and finished what I started.

I began the second draft last week. Boy does it feel good to iron out all the wrinkles and kinks and stains. Jonathan and Samantha are fixed. Their characters work. My pacing is fixed. My plot is going in the right direction. All it took was the courage to put in the work; to cut half your scenes, to change major plot points and completely rewire characters. I feel like a real writer, not just a wanna-be. Just think, only ten revision read-through's and fifty-thousand words left till the final draft. No biggie. I'm excited about the story again. I want to do this.

So I encourage all you aspiring authors who are listening. Don't be afraid to change things -- everything, if needs be. Don't be afraid to put in the work. Believe me, it's worth it.

I'm afraid this blog post is coming to a close. My writing time is upon me. :) Don't forget to hold me accountable for my posts (or lack thereof).

But before you go, I'm sure you all want a book of the week. (Or, maybe you don't; but you're getting one anyway.)

Book of the week this week is The Hollow City by Dan Wells. This book doesn't come out for another eight days, but I thought I'd "promo" it, anyway. Just because it's that amazing.

The Hollow City comes out from Tor publishers on July 3, 2012.

Michael Shipman has paranoid schizophrenia; he suffers from hallucinations, delusions, and complex, horrific fantasies of persecution. They are as real to him as your peaceful life is to you. He is haunted by sounds and voices, stalked by faceless men, and endlessly pursued by something even deeper and darker–something he doesn’t dare think about.

Soon the authorities are linking him to a string of gruesome serial killings, and naturally no one believes them himself. Hounded on every side, Michael contemplates a terrifying possibility: that some of the monsters he sees are real.

Who can you trust if you can’t even trust yourself? THE HOLLOW CITY is a mesmerizing journey into madness, where the most frightening enemy of all is your own mind.

Guys, I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You can check out Dan's website/blog here. Also, while you're there, check out Dan's awesome tour schedule. I can't wait to go!

Well, that's everything for now . . . I think. If there's something I forgot, you'll probably see it in the next blog post . . . next week. If I remember. Which I totally will! ;)

Hasta luego mis amigos.

~Jared