FIRST DRAFT OF 'TILT' WRITTEN ... NOW THE REVISIONS

"The solitude of fiction writing, a yoga that stretches the sinews of that reach into an unfathomable source … no way to know why the need to do this … the outputs and outcomes are so uncertain." -- 
-- Alicia Lys in "TILT" ...

 Completed the first draft of "TILT" - third novel in a series that began with "STRINGER," followed by "TURNED LOOSE." 

Now the revisions, an exhausting process. In most ways, I followed John Steinbeck's suggestion, write through and go back and fix later. Occasionally, I re-edited a scene when I realized that it synchronized poorly with subsequent episodes or characterizations.

  I'll find more of these as I work the second draft. I'll also find things I wrote that will make me wonder what I was thinking about.

Usually, I write every day, surprised at the discipline. The plot line is general when I start out but the characters’ features are basically clear in my mind. They help guide the story's direction and lead to the introduction of other characters and plot details and shifts.

I'm not shy about writing complicated plots or characters, or leaving some things unresolved, or developing multiple themes, or giving a character space to reflect. I'm not shy either about writing uninhibitedly.

The core episodes in all three novels have been written in an imaginary area in upstate New York, some others in imagined spaces of real places, and others in actual sites. The characters and events are fiction.
  So far the manuscript has about 46,000 words which translate into a little more than 200 paperback pages.