I really underestimated the importance of perfecting the opening chapters in my first novel. It took almost seventy pages for me to realize the foundation of the book was just too rickety for me to continue. And now, months later, I've spent more time tinkering and tautening the first fifteen pages of Wayland Priory than I spent writing the first seventy pages! Do I feel like this is too long or that its time wasted? No. I don't think so because I don't care if the book takes fifty years to write – I can't force myself to write something I'm not happy with!
The opening pages of a book are like the lenses on microscopes: one little scratch or imperfection can ruin the vision. The later chapters don't need nearly so much tinkering, IMO, so I believe that I'm going to be on a role for awhile now that I feel that my beginning is elegant enough.
No comments:
Post a Comment