Today I want to share one of the inspirations behind my fantasy novel I loving call "Teacup." Teacup is short for the longer title of "On the Other Side of the Teacup." It's the first book in a series- right now I'm thinking two or three books- and it's centered around a young twenty something who ends up being transported to another world through a potion given to her while she was at the Renaissance Festival.
I first started writing this book about five years ago when I worked 3rd shift (9pm-5am) as a proofreader for a financial printing company. It was grueling and isolating. My only solace was in co-workers who shared the turmoil and my writing.
I've been writing this book off and on for a while. I finally finished the first draft during the Nanowrimo Storm of '13. Since then, I've dusted it off, edited it for a bit, and then put it back. Even though I had finally finished my first book, I got scared and couldn't complete it. The task of editing seemed so overwhelming especially when I knew how flawed it was. The pressure I put on myself to make it perfect and to be perfect made me afraid to touch it.
In fact, I was contemplating just throwing it away and working on something else. The thought of deleting all that work, truly ending the lives of characters I had created kept me from doing that. So instead I put it away and tried to work on other ideas and stories. Only, that didn't really work.
Every time I would start something new or pick up something I had set aside, little things kept reminding me of Teacup. I tried to brush it off and keep going but I couldn't. It wasn't until I went back to the basics of storytelling and reading books on crafting novels that I decided to work on Teacup again.
So here I am today. I've pulled out the story and dusted it off. To make sure that I really complete it this time, I've created a task time table in excel. I'm devoting thirty minutes a day to rewrites and edits. As I finish a chapter, I'm going to submit it to Critique Circle for feedback.
Until then, I wanted to put a few things up to help me get back into my Teacup writing mood.
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| Spandex, Turkey legs, and swords! Oh my! |
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| Bocci Ball is for Lords only |
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| Hmm... AZ can be green |
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| Magic Potion Administrator! |
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| Sunrise in the desert |
I know exactly how you feel. I've been sitting on my novel for a number of years now, occasionally giving it rounds of revision and editing. I'm pretty happy with the way it is now, The biggest challenge for most of us is that publishers don't want to take the risk on first time authors. I've looked into small independent publishers and of course, self-publishing, but that's a last resort. Keep fighting the good fight, Victoria.
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