The Undiscovered Country

Giving up my blanky

I've been working on "Traitors" since February, 2001. I wrote the first draft in three months. It's gone through over ten major drafts in the last eight years.

It's a friend, comfortable, and in some ways predictable.

Now that it's finished (for now), I need to concentrate on writing an entirely new story. I wrote 14k of it in 2007, and need to finish it.

My first plan of attack is to write an outline of where I want the story to go. I have yet to write a single word. Why? Because I don't want to give up my comfortable blanky. It means thinking up a unique story with unique characters.

I know the premise, I know the main characters, and I know about where the story will go.

Writing it down, for whatever reason, daunts me a little.

Okay, a lot.

But I must if I don't want to stagnate. Sometimes throwing away the beloved thread-bare and stinky blanket is the only way to grow.

It'll take some tears, much grumbling, a few tantrums, but I'll be happy about it once it's done.

I have two working titles (science fiction): "A Planet to Call Home" and "The Redarian War". The second sounds more adventurous, don't ye think?

A rough blurb: Two groups of colonists fight over who controls the planet, Redarian. The main character, Travis, is caught between the two. He was shunned by one colony for dereliction of duty resulting in the death of five people, and nearly killed as a spy by the other. Can he bring the two together, or will he be the first casualty of a long and brutal war?

Intrigued?

If so, perhaps I need to get my fingers tapping.