Chapter 1 is DONE! Here's a sample!
A few months ago, I scrapped 45,000 words of my current first draft of my new novel, Eri Imperfect, and decided I needed to start over from scratch.
There were a few reasons for this, but the biggest one was honestly a gut feeling that what I was writing just wasn’t working. I wasn’t telling the story I wanted to tell. It’s a hard thing to explain; more instinct than reason. But ultimately, I had to make the hard choice to start over.
Starting over is an incredibly difficult thing to do. Emotionally, it’s easy to feel like a failure. Like you did it “wrong” the first time, and that’s why you’re having to begin again. It also makes procrastination so much harder to fight, because there’s a sense that you’ve already done this work once before. That’s a hard feeling to fight.
Last time, I talked about how helpful my writing groups have been for me. In particular, this is where my writing group from Tally Ink was a lifesaver. My writing coach, Colleen, was able to give me a few pieces of advice that helped turn everything around.
Break the clock. The timeline in my head doesn’t exist. Starting over doesn’t mean losing progress, because I’m the only one who gets to define what progress means in the first place.
Stop “should’ing” myself. All the “should” statements that come to mind - I should have started sooner, I should be writing more than I am, I should be closer to my goals… All these intrusive thoughts do is lead me into spirals of shame, which only serves to keep me from my goals even longer.
All progress is progress, no matter how small. This has been a huge help to me as I restart Eri Imperfect. I tend to have it in my head that “real” progress occurs thousands of words at a time, every single day. But in reality, what’s been working much better for me has been small sessions throughout the day, getting a few hundred words here, a few dozen there, a thousand on occasion.
All this to say, as of this Wednesday, I have finished the first draft of Eri Imperfect chapter 1!
It’s such a huge step forward for me to be able to say that, especially with how stuck I’ve felt with my writing for the last few months. And now that I have something new to share, I’m going to do just that.
So here you go: a short sample from chapter 1 of my new book. Keep in mind this is the first draft, and everything’s subject to change. But I’m so happy to be able to share.
A Sample from Eri Imperfect, Chapter 1
Putting on a fresh burst of speed, Eri dodged her way through the afternoon crowds. Buildings flashed by. Many of them were decorated with hanging banners bearing family crests. She wondered if Beau lived in one of these homes. They might as well have been mansions compared to her home in Kabu.
Her feet pounded against the dirt of unpaved back alleys, then the intricately-patterned cobblestone of the main street. A stitch was digging into her side. Just a little farther now. Just a little farther, and she felt sure she’d have gotten far enough from the red-faced guard to be out of danger. She risked a glance back over her shoulder. There was no sign of Beau or the other children; she’d left them far behind. She hoped they were—
WHAM!
The world went spinning. Everything was a confused tangle of painful raps and flailing limbs. The next thing she knew, she was lying flat on her back in the middle of the street, stunned. Everything hurt. She groaned and rubbed her eyes.
“Hey, kid! You okay?”
A man stood over her, silhouetted by the bright sky. He bent down toward her and held out a hand. After a moment’s hesitation, Eri took it. The man helped her to her feet. Eri shook herself off and looked up at the person she’d just crashed into.
He had curly brown locks and a kind, handsome face. He cocked an eyebrow. “You okay,” he asked again slowly.
“Yeah! Yeah, I’m fine! Sorry,” Eri squeaked.
The man nodded. “Well, alright. Just be more careful, okay? Maybe try looking where you’re running. That’s usually a good idea, you know?”
Eri’s cheeks went red. What, did this man think she was stupid or something? “Yeah, I know!”
To her surprise, the man burst out laughing. “Oh, man! You should see your face, kid. You’re redder than a tomato!”
“Hey!” Eri crossed her arms. “I said I was sorry, alright? You don’t need to rub it in!”
The man just kept laughing. Eri huffed and stomped away. Before she could get too far, he called after her. “Wait a second! You owe me that much, okay? Look, I’m sorry for laughing at you. But you did run into me. So let’s call it even, alright?”
Eri pursed her lips and looked back at the man. She blinked. For the first time, she noticed the enormous devil carcass he was holding by the tail. Her eyes went wide and her jaw dropped. “What is that?!”
“Oh, this?” The man shrugged. “It’s a toad devil. They’re super gross. Want to touch it?”
Her brain was short-circuiting. “Touch… it?”
There was a glimmer of light. To Eri’s astonishment, a figure appeared beside the strange man. An Angel!
“Toad devils can be very dangerous for humans to touch, Gordon,” the Angel said. “I think this young girl would prefer to keep all her fingers.”
“Ah, right,” Gordon said. “Best not touch it then, kid.”
“How are you touching it then?” Eri asked.
“Magic,” Gordon winked.
The Angel’s moth-like eyes rolled exasperatedly. “We need to move on, Gordon.”
“Right. Well, nice running into you. Or, I guess, nice for you to run into me,” Gordon chuckled. He nodded to Eri and turned away, dragging the toad devil’s corpse.
Thanks so much for reading! I’m going to get back to work now. Until next time!