Frustration

Writing can be immensely frustrating at times.

Dragon's Blood will need a far deeper revision than I had anticipated. It will make it a better book, but it's a bit frightening. I had a finished book, now I don't anymore. So I've been procrastinating a bit. Or a lot.

I guess part of my frustration also comes form the fact that I've been establishing my working routine. It's a trial and error process and it sometimes feels infinitely long. I have learnt a lot about the way I write, about what I need to be at my most productive, but sometimes I just feel like screaming, throw whatever I'm working on out the window and give the whole darned thing up.

One of the things I've had a hard time accepting is that I can't work on more than one project at a time. I wish I could do what some people do and work on three projects on different stages: doing research and outlining one; writing the first draft of another; editing a third, all at the same time. Sounds very productive, but not for me.

So, it's Dragon's Blood and Dragon's Blood alone from now on and until it's finished. The ideas for the changes it needs have been coming steadily, I also had some ideas for the sequels in the mean time, so I'm rolling with it. Afterwards I'll get working on finishing The Starlight Ring's first draft. I thought I could do both at once, but I wasn't doing either, so better this way.

And my muse doesn't help, always dropping great ideas in my brain at the worst possible times. Just added a new one today to the Future Projects folder.

Sangue de Dragão/Dragon's Blood

A little over a week, another one of mySangue de Dragão submissions was returned. This made me ponder my options not only for this book but for my career.

I reread the book this weekend, marking the bits that need some improvement. ~It's been a year, maybe more since I last read it. It's a good book: the story is solid, the narrative is well structured (except for a few minor flaws). It made me laugh at some moments, and brough tears to my eyes at others, despite the fact that I already knew the story.

However, it's becoming obvious that it will not be published by a Portuguese house. Also, it occurrs to me that, if I want to be a full-time writer, the Portuguese market isn't the answer. The international market might not be either, I'm not delusional about it, but the odds are certainly much better.

So, starting today, I'll be making the corrections I found necessary to the book and translating it into English. I really believe it is the best to do at the moment.