D. Lee Jackson

Words and Music

When Does It End?

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Broken ClockOne thing that I rarely see touched upon is the subject of how long it should take to write a book. Of course, there is no “should” when it comes to writing a novel. Each book comes with its own timeline and demands, and no two are ever alike. What I can give you are a few samples from my own work in progress, Tapper.

I completed my first draft around the end of July, 2014. I thought I was finished with it sometime in 2016—that’s when I started going through the “query” process of trying to find an agent to represent my book to publishing houses. Needless to say, I got no bites on my query. Around that same time, I got a proposal from Gearbox Software to write the soundtrack to the 20th Anniversary World Tour edition of Duke Nukem 3D. I put Tapper on the shelf and went back to writing music.

The hiatus on Tapper ran out in February of this year, when I pulled the book out and resumed writing. I’m passing it through Scribophile, where I’m getting some very useful, yet frustrating advice. Why is it frustrating? There’s that timeline again. My first “real” chapter (spoilers!) is on its 54th revision, and some of the comments I’ve been getting are first-time comments. Why couldn’t someone have raised these same points back on my 5th revision, eh?

If it sounds like I’m revising my book to death, let me come to its defense. I have done a major rewrite of the first few chapters, in order to make them more appealing to readers (and to agents). That also explains why some of the comments I’m getting are first-time ones. It doesn’t explain all of them, mind you—I’m still getting some of the “why did no one mention this earlier?” kind of remarks in later chapters.

The point I’m trying to make here is that if you’re writing your first book, you can go ahead and smash your clock for what it’s worth. Don’t expect to knock out a novel in a year, or two years, or even four for that matter—although, if you do get signed with an agent within four years, count your lucky stars. Be patient, and be ready to spend a lot of time working on your novel … and even more time re-working it.

Should You Polish While Welding?

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PolishGrouchy, grouchy, grouchy. That’s the mood I’m trying to break out of as a writer. You see, I’ve hit a spot in Tapper II (yes, I’m already writing the sequel—twelve chapters done already) where I know where I’m going, but I just can’t seem to get there.

A big part of the problem is that I’m having a hard time letting go of what I’ve already written. Sometimes, I’ll hit a section that I don’t like the looks of and I won’t want to leave it without getting it just right. I’m starting to realize that this is not a good idea. It’s the equivalent of trying to polish a car while you’re still welding the sheet metal together. It’s never going to look right if you try and do that.

I’ve got the end of this scene marked up already. All I need to do is connect what I’ve written to what I have planned. Forget trying to polish it right this minute—get the welding out of the way first.

Maybe then I can get the grouchiness out of my system as well.

Momentary Change Of Direction

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bookI’ve been working on music for quite some while now – long enough that you could say that I’ve been neglecting the other endeavor that this web site was established to discuss. That endeavor is writing: specifically, the writing of my first novel, Tapper.

No longer.

Tapper is back in production. It’s been itching in my mind for several months now. I’ve wanted to get back to the story of Travis’s pursuit to become someone who can manipulate the four fundamental forces of nature, and find out how he responds when called upon to fight against people who would place the Tapper technology into the wrong hands. I’m finally back at my laptop, doing rewrites and polishing chapters with the intent of finally getting this beast published this time around.

For those interested, I’m looking to go the traditional publication route. I have no idea how to self publish and therefore need all of the help I can get. I also feel that Tapper is too big of a story to be consigned to the self-publication route. It needs the treatment that only a traditional publishing house can provide. (I know I’m sounding a bit self-sure here. Please forgive me, but I’ve lived with this story for years. I have strong opinions about it.)

Believe it or not, you can help me write this story! All you have to do is become a member of Scribophile, the writing community whose badge appears on the left margin of this web site if you’re looking at it with a computer. My chapters are posted on that site. If you sign up, you’ll be able to critique (I hope) my chapters, beginning with the first two chapters here, as long as you “favorite” me as an author. (Read the FAQ and other help files on the site if you get lost – my profile will be visible here once you’ve joined.)

If you like what you see, you can upgrade to a Premium membership for $60 a year and start posting unlimited chapters of your own works! (Yes, I’m a Premium member – have been for several years now.)

Music writing is definitely not off the table. It’s merely been put on hold until I can put Tapper through a cycle of critiques on Scribophile and, hopefully, get it published. Large dreams, I’ll admit. That happens with any project, be it one involving music or words. In this case, I hope you’ll read on.

Back Into the Swing of Things – But Which Swing?

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Old Man Reads a BookI did something the other day that I have not done since December of 2016.

I critiqued a chapter for someone on Scribophile.

Things just haven’t gone my way this year, as those of you who follow this blog will understand. The problems actually started back in December, when my old (2009) second system I use to read critiques of my material died. It took a month or more to get a new secondary system.

That’s when the health problems set in, and they set in with a vengeance. Lower back problems. Chronic coughing. Fell and broke my left big toe, had to have surgery to fix it. More lower back problems, jumping from doctor to doctor to doctor. The list seems endless.

Not only have I not written a word on my own novel, as I said in a previous post, I haven’t even critiqued anyone else’s work. Critiques are what make Scribophile live and breathe. If I weren’t a team captain and a moderator, I’d have no business on the site.

All that changed a week ago when an old friend—the captain of the first Ubergroup team I was on—contacted me. He wanted me to critique the first chapter of his work.

I had to confess all of the above to him, especially the part about not having critiqued in nearly nine months. He was still willing to let me critique his work, which I did. I was a bit freaked out, but I dug in and went for it all the same.

Much of my critique skills had left me and I had to dig deep to remember them. I started by reading the entire chapter first, from beginning to end, something I rarely did in the old days (I used to just critique on the fly). I then went back and marked up the chapter with critique notes.

In the end, he said I was of some help, which was a great relief—I was afraid I’d wasted his time. No, I’d helped him figure out how to solve a problem with the opening sentence to one of his two possible starts to the book.

Now, I’m finding myself dealing with a dilemma—I want more than ever to get back into writing, but I need to get back to composing music. Put simply, I need to get back into the swing of things. I’m just having trouble picking the right swing. And, whichever one I choose, I can’t swing too high or I’ll swing into the brick wall of illness and pain in front of me.

Swing something, but swing low. I guess that’s how I’m going to have to deal with this.