Purpose of the IWSG: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds! Join us!
The Question:
For how long do
you shelve your first draft, before reading it and re-drafting? Is this
dependent on your writing experience and the number of stories/books under your
belt?
My Answer
It depends on many things, but I've never felt that I released a
book too soon.
My latest WIP, A Passion for Murder, has been shelved
many times this last year. It's the final book in my Alaskan Mystery Series,
and I want it to be worthy of that title. I've sent it out to beta readers, and
while I received positive responses. I still wasn't happy.
I've done another re-write, and now, finally, I think it's ready.
I'll know for sure after a read-aloud edit, but I don't regret taking my time.
It may frustrate the readers, but time, I've found, only makes the story
better.
The outstanding
co-hosts this month are:
***
Announcing!
GREAT WAVE!
The
Great Wave is an iconic work created in the 1820’s by
Hokusai. Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) was a Japanese artist from the Edo period. He was a
master of Ukiyo-e, a genre of woodblock prints and paintings very popular at
the time in his country. Ukiyo-e translates loosely as ‘images of the floating
world.’ The Great Wave of Kanagawa, also condensed to The Great Wave, is part
of a series called Thirty-six views of Mount Fuji, is Hokusai’s most well-known
work. Have a peek at the series here.
And read more about Hokusai
here.
The
immediate response to this prompt could be to relate it to the tsunami of 2004
or the Japanese nuclear disaster. And it is a small step from there to jump to
the climate issues we are facing round the world, the unprecedented weather
patterns and natural disasters small and large.
But
a great wave need not be always of water – it can be a great wave of refugees.
And of soldiers. Or protesters and last but not the least, voters.
Equally
a great wave of an emotion – pain, love, bitterness, rage, nausea, which one
will your characters feel?
It
could even be a small wave, we'll leave the size up to you – the wave of a
hand, the flutter of a flag. Or cravat/tie.
So
many places to float away to, which one will you choose with this prompt?
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