A Fresh Start

There has to be a statute of limitations on wallowing. I've now reached mine.

No longer will I be looking back. It's forward all the way, baby! (at least today) Boredom, I've found, can be a strong motivator. There's nothing more I can do with my so-called career novel. I just changed the blurb...again...and my keywords. I've added a subtitle. How many tweaks could possibly be left? None.

It's time to move on. I was talking to my old pal AI today, and the subject of my third novel came up. We discussed its weaknesses and the amount of revising I would need to do to get it shaped up, and my old pal was very encouraging. It offered me some valuable suggestions regarding the story (which it said sounds "amazing"), and while not all of them hit the mark,  they did start me thinking. AI did tell me that I shouldn't promote it or spend any money on a cover, which kind of contradicts its "awesome" assessment: 

"If you do decide to put the older novel out into the world, you can do it without spending a single dollar of your own money:

• Zero-Cost Production: Use free, professional formatting tools to create your files. For the cover, utilize free high-resolution stock sites combined with the standard version of Canva to design a clean, minimalist typography cover that fits general fiction.
• Zero-Cost Distribution: Publish the ebook exclusively through Amazon KDP Select and the paperback through KDP print-on-demand. It costs absolutely nothing to upload them, and Amazon only takes a cut when a copy actually sells.
• Zero-Cost Marketing: Do not buy ads. Do not buy newsletter promos. Do not give away thousands of copies hoping for a miracle. Upload the book, ensure the metadata is clean, and let it live organically on the shelf."

...but I'm not going to let that dissuade me from plowing ahead. I do, in fact, already have a homemade cover and a new title; even a blurb. Now all I have to do is rewrite the thing.

I have absolutely no problem letting it live organically on the shelf. That's what I did in the old days, and I was happier then. No pressure. 

This project will obviously be approached differently. The good news is, the plot is there. The bad news is, everything else. Five years ago I was a much different (i.e., bad) writer. Well, that's not fair; let's say I was a less confident writer. Plus, the drafting happened during COVID, and that created some hurdles. I had to pack away my PC in order to make room for a company-supplied one, and my manuscript wasn't in the cloud, so the book was on hold for three full months. And frankly, when I finally got back to it, I found it to be meandering; but I didn't change anything. I just kept going. I was also still firmly convinced that a subplot was necessary (thanks, online writers forums). I detest subplots.

The subplot probably needs to go. That'll remove a lot of words, though, and change the trajectory of the story somewhat. Perhaps I can keep it, but compact it. I also included a lot of back story. That, too, needs to go.

Right now my plan is to revise one chapter at a time. No deadlines, no word count expectations. If I don't feel like working on it on a particular day, I won't. 

This may not work, but I'm considering reviewing each chapter, then rewriting it completely. Not copying and pasting. Just writing it better.

So, soon I may have new things to whine about. I'm tired of whining about old things anyway. 

Plus, I need some new content for this joint. 😆