Writing decisions
Filed under Writing Journal on April 28, 2006
Tagged: Janner's Regret
We’re in our new apartment now, and I got the computer set up and online. Unfortunately, it did a fatal crash on me and I spent the last 24 hours getting it back in working order. I decided to partition the hard drive this time around, as I hated burning 8 CDs to backup all my “important” files that I didn’t want to lose when I reformatted.
Two nights ago, I woke up at about 2 AM with a couple of story ideas raging in my head. One of them was a short story about Iuna, from Maiden of Pain, and how she is fitting in to her new life at the Manor in Bezantur. The other derived from my Dungeon proposal. I can’t let go of some of the characters and plot points. I spent a couple hours writing out my thoughts before going back to bed. There’s really nothing to do with the latter story, unless another closed call comes along that it would fit, but I’m going to write the Iuna story when I get the chance.
That brings me to the decision I’ve made about my current writing. For some time now, I’ve been dissatisfied with “Janner’s Regret”. Originally envisioned as a short story, it quickly outgrew those constraints as I struggled to tell the story. Let me be clear–the scope of the story has not grown or changed. I did not make an accurate assessment of what was required to tell the story.
It was time I admitted that Janner’s Regret is a novel. I have skimmed over–or skipped entirely–sections in an attempt to fit this into a short story format, and it’s leaving a bad taste in my mouth. So, I am going to do what I should have done in the first place and take a step back. I’m going to outline.
But not right now.
I worked on Janner now only because it was just going to be a short story. I have two other novel projects that I would much rather work on. I really need to start interviewing folks involved in my friend’s accident before events become clouded memories. And it’s time for Logan.
It’s frustrating to set aside something I’ve spent so much time on. Some might even say I was wasting time. To that, I respond that in writing Janner’s Regret my craft has matured, and that the story will be completed at a later time.
A heartfelt congratulations to my friend Aaron, whose daughter was born yesterday morning. Welcome to the club. 
