Skip to main content

The First Time Around (My First Completed Project)


Happy Tuesday!

I thought I'd take a breather from recommendation analysis and thoughts on book review requests this week. A Q&A style post about one of my first-ever completed writing projects (outside of, you know, school) felt exactly right for today.

If you've ever been curious about what I wrote first, now is your chance to read all about it!

What is the title of your first completed writing project?

HBF. It's an acronym for the original title, but I've referred to it as this for so long now that I struggle with remembering what HBF stood for initially.

How long ago did you write it?

About 15-20 years ago. And I just realized (for the millionth time) how old that makes me. Yikes.

What genre is it? 

Today, I think it would be something along the lines of Christian New Adult/Suspense. But New Adult wasn't a thing back in the day, so I probably would have just said something like Christian Contemporary Fiction at the time.

Are you currently writing working on anything in that genre?

No. My two current works-in-progress (WIPs) are both in science fiction.

What is the story about?

A newlywed couple in their last year of college are victims of a premeditated hit and run. Family and friends work back through events of the last few years, including the couple's budding relationship, trying to figure out who is responsible and why they [the perpetrator]
did it.

Is your project published?

If you count something posted on WattPad as published, then kind of. I used to be one of the admin in a fan community for a popular book series. We had a section of the site dedicated to fan fiction and allowed unrelated stories to be posted there as well. I posted chapters of HBF as I wrote them.

The site is gone now, but someone with a lot of free time who thinks they want to read the horrendous first draft might find it using the Wayback Machine. If they really want to.

Is there anything from/about this project that is still a part of your writing?

Absolutely! There are a few things I've noticed about HBF that have carried through in my writing from then until now.

One - I really like to play around with the structure of a story. HBF weaves in and out of past and present timelines for the main characters. I wrote another story from the POV of the characters who interact with the protagonist. One of my current WIPs started as an experiment to see if I could play with story structure in other ways and still have it make sense.

Two - my stories almost always have female protagonists. HBF is no exception to that rule.

And three (something I'm working hard to eradicate) - I always default to melodrama when I'm trying to figure out how to move a story forward. It's really easy for me to do, but now I cringe at how often scenes are overly melodramatic when I'm rereading previous drafts.

How do you feel about the story now?

I have mixed feelings about some things when it comes to the story, but mostly because it's a rough first draft that people ended up reading. The core of it is good and it brings up some important discussions, so I'm proud of it for that.

Do you think you'll ever go back and rewrite/republish it?

I'd like to sit down and polish HBF into a story that shines, yes. I still think there's room for a story like it. Right now, it's a matter of having enough time, energy, and motivation to work on it. That combination hasn't come together yet.



Wow! I've had a ton of fun writing this post. I'll have to try ones like this in the future with some of my other old writing projects.

What did you think? Did you have any other questions about my first completed project? Let me know!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Metaphors: Candles

I've recently fallen in love with candles. Since coming home from the World Race , I've bought at least one a month. My favorite candles are the ones that come in glass jars - because when they burn out, I can clean the remaining wax out and put the jars to other uses. Right now,  that means they get cleaned out and packed away in anticipation of my move to Flagstaff. But as I was lighting one tonight (vanilla spice... Thanksgiving smells? Yes, please!), I saw a metaphor for writing flickering away in the flame licking at the wick and melting the wax. I suppose it could be a metaphor for life in general, but since the theme of this blog is writing... Well, you do the math.

Book Review: The Excalibur Alternative

Happy Thursday, everyone. Here is July's book review for general consumption. Since the book I am reviewing is the third in a series, a potential  SPOILER WARNING   is in effect if you have not read the Ranks of Bronze series. The Excalibur Alternative (Ranks of Bronze #3) David Weber, 2002, Baen Books Summary: It's just another day at war for Sir George Wincaster and the group of 14th-century English soldiers he leads until they are abducted by aliens who are part of the Galactic Federation. Stuck in outer space and used as mercenaries to conquer the populations of low-tech planets, they wonder if they will ever make their way home. An unexpected opportunity comes their way when a member of another alien race, who is also being subjugated by the Galactic Federation, approaches Sir George with a proposition to take over the ship and win back their freedom. Will he take them up on it, and what will the consequences be? Opinion: I confess, I did i...

[Five Minute Friday] Purpose

Fiber bars, strewn along the side of the road. There had to be at least a dozen of them, still in their wrappers and completely unopened. No box in sight. Really? That's about the reaction my younger sister and I had when we stumbled on them on our early morning run. Really? along with disgusted sighs about the wastefulness of it. These were the expensive ones, not a generic store brand that kind of tastes and kind of looks the same sometimes. So, when we weren't keeping an eye out for their box, we speculated about what had happened. And wondered how many more we were going to see before the end of our run. "Maybe they took one bite and thought they were gross," my sister said. "So they threw them out because they didn't want them anymore." I let out one of those disgusted sighs and nodded along with her theory. "Yeah, or they got in a huge fight, and threw them out in a fit of rage." "That's a possibility." And...