The third draft of my YA novel Fortress is finished. I'd like to say this is going to be the final draft, but I know it won't be. I'm going to have at least one librarian and a few teenagers read it and get their feedback, then take it from there.
So, you ask, "What was the road to the novel?" It started as an expansion of a short story I wrote to get into Clarion in 2004. I left the story alone for two years, going over the instructor feedback and finally deciding it was a bigger story than a few thousand words. I wrote the first draft (about 60,000 words), then revised it a few months later.
In 2007 I sent it to a contest with the Maryland Writers' Association and won second place in the sf/speculative category.
I pretty much sat on it for a year, then decided to revise it again. I actually finished it on Monday and tonight printed it out. It came out -
24 chapters
370 pages
75,000 words
Many Diet Cokes
Even more coffee
So now, how's about some short stories, huh?
4 comments:
Well done. Send that out.
Thanks. I'll take a look at the feedback first, then push it out the door.
I know it's hard (if not next to impossible) with two kids, but let's try to get together sometime soon.
What short story is it based off of?
Hi Eric - It was one of the stories I wrote to get into Clarion, so you guys never saw it - only the instructors.
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