What's up?

Well, I'll tell you what's up: the newspaper business isn't doing so well. Not sure if I've clued you in, but I work for a local newspaper as an editorial assistant. We learned today that the big bosses have decided to merge with our competition and form a new business, in which half would be controlled by our former bosses, and have by the other companies bosses. Yay! (Not so much.) First off, the new company gets to control the newsroom (where I work) and therefore are in charge of staff. Which means that in a couple months I may or may not have a job. I'm crossing my fingers that I will.

As for the other spectrum of my life (my writing) I am pruning away on "Fury" and have reached Chapter 23. Yay! (For real this time.) This revision is taking longer than I thought because I'm (you won't believe it) giving my characters PERSONALITY! OMG! What? Am I crazy? I must be.

I realized that one of my main problems in "Fury" was that I took a lot of shortcuts. Telling instead of showing--lots of freaking introspection and very little action. In a word: Blah! But this new version is showing potential. I'm not changing huge things in it, so the plot is mostly the same, I'm just making it a heck of a lot juicier. Fury and Caden have some knock-out drag-outs, and you actually get to SEE it instead of being TOLD about it. For the first time, I'm actually getting to know my characters through how they act, not what they think. Hooray!

As for "Dragon Queen" ::hides head in shame:: I'm only about five chapters from the end, but I haven't been working on it. Mainly because I'm focusing on "Fury". I DO have it all outlined, however, so no worries. I pinky-swear that as soon as "Fury" is edited, I'm going to focus on "Dragon Queen". And on that note, back to work!

Between Elation and Frustration

Here's the deal:

Just the thought of editing Fury makes me hyperventilate. I'm stressed. I have reached that point where I just want to shred all 200 + pages of it and light it on fire. Do a little dance around it. Chant "Freedom" into the ember streaked sky. 

Seriously.

But I won't. Still, I'm so frustrated that I can't bear the thought of sitting down and looking at it. All my beautiful descriptions that I was once so proud of now read "blah blah blah". If you're a writer, I'm sure you know what I mean.

The worst thing is: I'm BORED with it. I still think (analytically) that it is a good story. I believe that it has potential to be a mind-blowing, rock your socks off, GREAT story, but right now every time I see it, I snarl.

I think it's partly because I have a new love interest: Dragon Queen. It's a WIP, so it's still exciting. It still has the potential to change. There's only very slight editing going on. The story and characters engage me. It's funny (which "Fury" isn't) so it tends to lighten my mood, which makes me want to write it even more.

"Fury" is not a funny story. It's, at times, a very depressing story. It's supposed to be. It's dark. It's deep. It's characters are often tormented and estranged. When I wrote it, I wanted it to be all those things. I STILL want it to be all those things. But, gah, I'm getting a little tired of it. To the point where I want to rewrite it. ::Smacks hand:: No! Not going to happen.

I honestly think that I've reached the point where I might have to just get mind-numbing drunk to edit it. Probably not a good option. ::Sigh::

I will do my best to get to it by the end of this week. My boyfriend is supposed to be off working in another state for a couple of days, so I'll have the house to myself. A great opportunity to remind myself why I once loved "Fury".