Writing to Shore
Writing June 23rd, 2006When I was in the Philippines I learned this quote from a Filipino:
Kailanman ay hindi natutuklasan ang mga bagong lupain kung walang naghihintulot na tumaliwas sa tabing dagat sa isang napakahabang panahon.
Oh, you want me to translate that for you?
One does not discover new lands without first consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.
That’s kind of how I’m feeling right now on the book. I’ve been able to coil up the ropes and catch wind in the sails. So far, the trek hasn’t been too treacherous, although I’ve come close to a few rocky shoals that I’ve been able to avoid.
But now I’m losing sight of the shore from which I left. The beginning is almost 80k words behind me, and I’m out at sea. Everywhere I turn all I see is ocean. The dark clouds are starting to gather on the horizon. The smooth sailing is over with. I’m going to have to push to keep at this thing.
And that’s okay.
Would it really be worth it if there wasn’t some hard work involved?
There’s no land in sight. The storms are gathering.
Meanwhile, I’m going to write my way back to shore.
June 24th, 2006 at 8:10 am
That’s one of the coolest quotes I’ve read in a long time. Most inspirational quotes are pretty cheesy, but this one is beautiful. You should send it to one of the people who compile and edit those books of quotations.
I don’t know what Filipino sounds like, but it looks strange on the page. It looks almost like a fictional language because of the long words that look like strings of randomly chosen letters. Just a weird impression I have.
Your Nethermore meter says 386 pages. That’s a lot. That’s longer than a lot of published novels. How long do you think it will end up being?
June 26th, 2006 at 10:37 am
Glad you liked the quote, Tab. The Filipinos have some great sayings. Most of them are kind of funny, but this one has stuck with me. And it really does look like a fictional language, or as if someone pounded on the computer keyboard and then added random spaces.
The page count on Nethermore is based on 200 words per raw manuscript page. My goal is 1000 of those pages, so I’m not even halfway done. The final book should clock in around 600 paperback pages. But things might change depending on story needs. It could wind up longer or shorter. How’s your own book coming along?
June 28th, 2006 at 10:39 am
Slowly, I’m afraid. I’m trying to work on three things at once and not making great progress on any of them. I’m writing my novel, and I started another story that I can see is going to be at least novella-length. So I will have to start writing a short story because the other two are going to take so long to finish that I need something else if I want to get my writing career off the ground.
June 28th, 2006 at 10:54 am
At least your book is progressing in the right direction. I’ve never been able to work on more than one writing project at once because by the time I get back to the project I’ve halted in order to start the new project, it takes me a bit of time to get back into things.
How many words do you think your novel will be?