I’ve almost caught up to the end of my writing so far, and it has made me realize just how much work the book needs. Yes, it’s only a first draft, something that is meant to be improved upon significantly, but I had expected myself to be able to do better.
Some of the scenes are far too short and try to do too much in that space. Others seem unnecessary in their entirety. The writing does not flow the books that I enjoy reading, it seems choppy and forced. And I don’t think my characters are who I want them to be. Overall, it’s quite frustrating.
I think the best thing to do is to try to write better when I continue and develop my writing skills and style through the rest of the book. I can use each scene as practice and then, once I have things the way I like them (if that ever happens, then I will go back and rewrite the earlier ones.)
Moving forward, I want to be a little less prescriptive with the scenes. I think that forcing myself to stick to my outline is what has made the story seem so choppy so far. The outline was unrealistic with what it tried to force into each scene, it seems. I need to let those points develop more naturally, even if if means the book growing in length.
Once I have a better understanding of my writing ability, THEN it will be time to write outlines that I can stick to. But for now, I still don’t know what I can and can’t accomplish. . .
So much to learn.