Writing is like building a castle in the swamp

OK, if you don’t know Monty Python’s Holy Grail, and in particular the scene about the castle in the swamp, watch the first minute of this video.

Great, now you’re up to speed (sometimes you have to salt the metaphor with video tutorials, modernity is great like that).

Writing your first novel can be a lot like building a castle in the swamp. You put all you have into it, but when you’re done and step back, its anyone’s guess whether its going to keep standing, or sink into the swamp.

This month, I finished that first novel. Shock and surprise, I know, but relax, you’ll never see it. Why? Because it is a collection of action scenes with a barely cogent thread of plot. Because it is a compound fracture of the brain. So why did I bother finishing it if I knew it was going to end this way? Because I had to. Because every time I looked to start some writing, it would crop up and tease me with its half baked plot and over the top, never can do wrong characters.

So I sat down this month and excised it. Its out of my system, just under 80k words, and it should never be seen again. It tempts me still – I could package it up and send it to an agency, maybe look for a publisher. I know its crap, but its done, and that has to be worth something.

No. Its time for it to fall over and sink into the swamp. With that weight off my shoulders, I actually have a truly fresh, exciting story forming right now. In my mind, its as stylized as a Zhang Yimou cinematic feast. Let’s see where this train goes.