by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
After way, way, way, way longer than I imagined, I may — may — have stabilized the beginning of the third draft of my first novel. It’s been tough going. Really tough.
There have been a number of structural problems that have caused everything to collapse repeatedly, to the point that I’ve felt like I was spinning my wheels and not really getting anything done.
But I’ve managed to come up with a sequence of events that pleases me. The true test will be if I can read through what I have done so far and me not realize it’s so bad that I can’t use it. I’m hopeful. I think there’s a decent chance that may, just maybe, things will move at quite a nice clip.
As always, of course, I continue to worry that Something Will Happen that will throw everything out of whack. I’ve been living in a very idyllic situation for way too long and it just can’t last.
And that doesn’t even begin to address the longer term issue of the fucking Fourth Turning that may break out just as I’m beginning to query this novel seriously in about a year. Ugh. I want to become a traditionally published novelist, not spend all my time dodging ICE agents or bombs.
