BOBBI SCHEMERHORN
  • HOME
  • BOOKS
    • BOUNTY
    • YOUNG CHRONICLES
    • REALM WARDENS
    • MECHANICAL DRAGONS
  • GALLERY
  • ABOUT
  • NEWSLETER
  • CONTACT

The Inaugural Ramblings of a Wannabe Blogger…

25/1/2018

0 Comments

 
Here it is my first post to my new website. My inaugural entry of my monthly ramblings. Actually this is technically my second blog post. A few years ago I guest posted on a site called the Fictorians. It’s a good site with interesting blogs by authors from all different genres.

It was a good post I think; I spoke about what its likes to receive criticism and how to handle it. I’ll share it here in the next few entries.
Today I thought I would talk a little about what I’m currently working on. It’s a project that I first had a difficult time writing, I wasn’t sure if I could even start the book let alone finish a series of four books.

But I’m getting a little ahead of myself, so let’s go back a bit. I was still working on the Guardians series, just finishing up the final book Obsession actually when a short story was presented to me.

A dear friend of mine had to write a story for her technology class. It was less than 2600 words and she said it was all mine to do what I pleased with it. Well it was difficult at best. I couldn’t get the story to work out, I didn’t know where to go and most importantly I didn’t want to hurt my friends feelings if I changed it too much.
But after weeks of her reassuring me that I can do whatever I like use as much or as little as I wanted the characters finally showed themselves to me. I started writing the first book in Mechanical Dragons. Fire&Water although difficult to start was easy to finish. The story unfolded in front of me and it was completely different than the one in the short story.

Fast forward a few years and I have just completed the fourth book in the series. Air. It too was a bit of a rough go. I thought I could write the book in thirty days and get it out in time for a Christmas release. Boy was I wrong, so very very wrong. Sure I finished it in the thirty days, about fifty thousand words. But the story was lacking, desperately lacking any soul. I rushed it and it felt rushed. I had major doubts about the quality of the book when I sent it to my betas.

The feedback I received only confirmed my doubts about the quality of the work. So I made a few changes and sent it to my editor. Unfortunately not many of my doubts dissipated and when it came back from my editor, I was certain beyond all reasonable doubt that publishing the book was wrong. It would be a horrible and possibly disastrous idea.

So, I pulled it. I contacted my cover artist at streetlamp graphics and cancelled the work he was to do. I missed that publication date and I felt so relieved and confident in my decision.

(The worst thing you could ever do as an Indie Author is rush a publication. But that’s a story for another day.)

What I didn’t expect was the huge writer’s block I experienced. I went through the entire beta and editor notes again; I made minor adjustments that did nothing really to add to the story. Every few months I would get an idea for a chapter and write it then become stumped again to where the chapter should go. I struggled for a long time as I tried to patchwork the original story with new chapters.
Four months ago I decided that enough was enough; I have to push myself through it. I couldn’t go another year, yes year, of this book not getting published. So I pushed, pushed hard and with help from a fellow author and good friend I was able to make progress.

Two weeks ago I decided to trash the original last four chapters. They were starting to become cumbersome at best; I was trying so hard to make them fit that nothing would work. So I deleted them and everything started to flow. I was no longer trying to make things fit and that was the key. I finished the book and sent it to the betas. All 95 thousand words of it! I am proud of the book that I’ve written and was so excited to send it to my betas.

I guess the moral of this story is to always go with your instincts, they’re usually right. Had I went ahead and published the first version of Mechanical Dragons: Air I would be regretting it to this day. It was not my best work and it showed.

Well that’s it, that’s my first post on my own site. I hope I didn’t disappoint and I hope you return to read my future ramblings.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    I have a tendency to ramble when talking to friends. I figured why not share my ramblings here with you nice people!

    Archives

    September 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    October 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Copyright © 2012-2022 Bobbi Schemerhorn. All rights reserved.
Privacy Policy
Cookie Policy
Proudly powered by Weebly
  • HOME
  • BOOKS
    • BOUNTY
    • YOUNG CHRONICLES
    • REALM WARDENS
    • MECHANICAL DRAGONS
  • GALLERY
  • ABOUT
  • NEWSLETER
  • CONTACT