It turns out that my reputation for fast writing may be actually earned after all -- as of this morning, Eleven is largely finished. It's not quite ready for prime time yet; there's a section that's still rough, a small but key bit that I want to get exactly right. If it rings false, everything falls apart. So it won't go up until I'm happy with it. I don't expect to have time to work on it tonight, but it could be ready as soon as tomorrow.
After that, I'm not quite sure what to do in terms of pacing myself. Finishing Eleven catches me up to RyRy and puts me two chapters ahead of Lee. I know that the only restriction is that I not pass up Ikon (and I don't think there's much risk of that at this point), but I'm not sure how I feel about setting plot. Paine's big moment of action, saving Nooj from the sand-bear, has passed, and that's the only section, really, in which she drives the story forward. Paine reacts, Paine observes; she doesn't usually take the lead. Also, Ry and Lee have both been so good at coming up with secondary plots, and I'm not sure I can live up to them. I'm mostly a character-driven writer, not so much a plot-driven one. (I think that may be why I'm drawn to fanfic: the plots are mostly already there for me. I just need to plug in holes here and there, and then I'm free to write character studies and backstory to my heart's content.)
So I think I will take another pause, or at least make an effort to write at a more measured pace for awhile. This could be a really good thing; Ten came out quite well, I think, and I am sure this is at least in part because I was forced to slow down, to consider it all very carefully and work on it slowly over several days instead of during a burst of productivity. There is time for inspiration and time for deliberation, and I think this may be the latter.
Well, enough musing on company time. ;) I'm off to take stock of the book room.
After that, I'm not quite sure what to do in terms of pacing myself. Finishing Eleven catches me up to RyRy and puts me two chapters ahead of Lee. I know that the only restriction is that I not pass up Ikon (and I don't think there's much risk of that at this point), but I'm not sure how I feel about setting plot. Paine's big moment of action, saving Nooj from the sand-bear, has passed, and that's the only section, really, in which she drives the story forward. Paine reacts, Paine observes; she doesn't usually take the lead. Also, Ry and Lee have both been so good at coming up with secondary plots, and I'm not sure I can live up to them. I'm mostly a character-driven writer, not so much a plot-driven one. (I think that may be why I'm drawn to fanfic: the plots are mostly already there for me. I just need to plug in holes here and there, and then I'm free to write character studies and backstory to my heart's content.)
So I think I will take another pause, or at least make an effort to write at a more measured pace for awhile. This could be a really good thing; Ten came out quite well, I think, and I am sure this is at least in part because I was forced to slow down, to consider it all very carefully and work on it slowly over several days instead of during a burst of productivity. There is time for inspiration and time for deliberation, and I think this may be the latter.
Well, enough musing on company time. ;) I'm off to take stock of the book room.