The Complexities of a Second Book

As I have previously mentioned when I wrote the first book My DIARY My LOVE I was writing a second book at the same time. Now that I am in the editing and re-writing stage of the second masterpiece, I think it is better to describe it as a 180-page outline.

To any aspiring author like me we are all slowly evolving; hopefully with time each author's own writing style improves. One positive part of my routine today is that I open yahoo and in the tabs section I open and keep them open until I finish my writing for the day.

These are three or four helpful tools.

https://litreactor.com/columns/8-words-to-seek-and-destroy-in-your-writing
http://goinswriter.com/weak-words/
http://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus

I keep them open to help me focus when I stray. I am working on eliminating the easy way out as a writer. Is it perfect, no, but it is an improvement. I have read several blogs and articles about dialog and its importance. My god there are so many articles out there that it is overwhelming. I had to find ones that I was comfortable with and that worked for me. 

I have also listened to several audio books, which are more helpful than reading a book, although I do read constantly. The audio books allow me to hear character dialog and to study the author's style.

Personally, I favor Game of Thrones and Harry Potter because both authors have numerous characters who interact with each other. Of course, Jim Dale, (Harry Potter), and Roy Dotrice, (Game of Thrones), who are the voices on the audio books, only add to the richness of the novels, which I have also read.

When I read over each page and look at my draft, quickly I see where adding voices to the characters brings a whole new degree of depth and strength to the story. It adds some degree of complexity and allows the story to move in numerous directions, while maintaining cohesiveness. Suddenly the story is no longer drudgery now I want to see where the characters are going.  

It takes a special type of person who can sit down in front of a computer screen and write for hours day after day. There must be a drive within those individuals, which few understand. Personally, I am always moved when a story is written about a human being who is absolutely compelled and driven. When they battle themselves and overcome all obstacles, which lay in the path ahead.     

On Thursday, August 11th, Aly Raisman won a silver medal in women's gymnastics. I have selected excerpts from this article about this extraordinary woman, which I believe exemplifies that it takes more than just desire to reach the top. 

From her coach-She was very excited to be the best,” Brestyan said. “The desire to work, it’s what I was looking for. I need this. The talent I can modify. Fears, I can change. But give me that discipline. Because if you don’t have that, I can’t work with you. She gave me that.”

If Simone Biles has been a study in the impossible, Aly Raisman has been a display of what’s possible. It is rare for a gymnast to return after four years, to go through the sadness of missing a medal, to go through the soul-searching of what’s next, to go through the re-training, and then to go through more years of elevating to a brand new level at age 22. Brestyan said that now-famous first pass on the floor routine took two years to conjure and implement, and it pushed Raisman past where she already stood as 2012 Olympic champion of the routine.

“I didn’t always think I was good enough,” Raisman said, “and that’s why I worked so hard.”

Congratulations Aly Raisman on winning the silver medal!

Robert Stephen