Only the Beginning of the Adventure

“I’m falling.”

Those two words popped into my brain on December 10th whilst doing my nightly teeth brushing duties.

“Huh,” I thought, “that’d be an interesting way to start a story.”

These thoughts buzzed louder than my electric toothbrush, festering and growing. A whole prologue of a girl falling through nothingness had come alive by the time I was ready to rinse and spit.

Hurrying to my room, I pulled out my Author’s Journal and scribbled the few nonsensical lines down. “Someday that could be cool story,” I said to myself as I slipped the little journal back on the shelf, knowing good and well most of the random ideas constantly whirling inside my head never make it out. Besides, just ten days before that I had finished NaNoWriMo. No writing was to be done in December. It was time for a break.

But as I slipped under the covers that night and closed my eyes, the words came back to me. “I’m falling. . .”

Why is she falling? Where is she falling to? Maybe she’s just in a coma? What happens when she wakes up? What if she doesn’t remember anything?

“Stop it, brain! I’m trying to sleep. I can’t think of a new story right now. I just finished NaNo and I already have decided what the next book I’m going to write will be. Now be quiet.”

But. . .

“I’m falling.”

The words were back by the next morning, and the falling girl wouldn’t leave me alone as I went about my daily business.

“But I can’t start a new story right now. That’d be insane!”

That night, when I crawled into bed, I pulled up my laptop and opened a fresh new word document.

“I’m falling,” my fingers clacked onto the empty white page.

And Fallen Matter was born.

For six months now this story that never even supposed to exist has kidnapped me in a solid grip, constantly on my mind, constantly demanding my attention. So I let it have its way, and I’m so glad I did.

Never has a story surprised me as much as this one. It threw away all my notions of disliking sci-fi. It proved to me that veering away from my comfort zone can be a good thing. That I am actually capable of writing something far, far away from medieval fantasy and *gasp* enjoy it, a lot. It completely turned around my great hatred of first person. Basically, it took one look at my comfort zones, crumpled them up, and tossed them out the window. And I’m so glad! This book took me on an adventure that made strides in my writing journey and I feel so much more confident because of it.

Ever since that December night, my life has been centered around this single story. Most of my days have been spent clacking madly on the keys, pounding out this weird, wild tale. I’ve enjoyed most of the stories I’ve written, but never once has any one captured me so tightly as this. I couldn’t stop, I didn’t want to stop. Usually, I end up getting burned out at some point in the story and writing becomes a chore. But not with Fallen Matter. Sure, there were days I had to push myself to reach a word count goal, but those times were few and far between. I got immersed in the world, the confusing plot, the intriguing characters, rooting them on, wanting to stay with them through the entire journey.

And then, last night at 8:25 PM, my fingers tapped out the much anticipated words.

The End.

I had done it. Six months of mad writing and Fallen Matter was done.

*cue the dancing*

So what now? Well, this is just the beginning. Have I mentioned Fallen Matter is the first of a trilogy? That’s right! The adventure has just begun!

As much as I love this book, it needs work. And I mean WORK. I think this is the one I’m going to attempt querying with and poke at that prospect of getting published, which means this draft is just the first of many as I twist and shape and squeeze this book into something worth reading.

Did I mention it ended at 164,474 words and 49 chapters?

Oops.

That’s not going to work! I really didn’t want it to be any longer than 100k. How it got to be 164k words is still confusing my poor brain, and how I’m going to cut about 60k words out of it turns said brain into soup. BUT those worries are for another time. Right now I’m simply reveling in the feeling of it being WRITTEN.

This idea that started out as two words, I’m falling, transformed into a story with such a big, confusing plot I’m still trying to sort it all out. I honestly had zero plot and no clue what was happening when I had already written three chapters! And now I have a full, 164k story. Naturally, this first draft would be a bit on the messy side. But I discover the story while I write, so now I have something to work with. If I hadn’t plunged in, I’d have nothing. Now I have the building materials I need to really create and shape this story into something worth reading. And it excites me beyond belief!

For now, though, Fallen Matter and I need some time away from each other, as hard as it is to separate. I need a good long break to sort things out and give myself time before tearing my baby apart. For the duration of June I’ve been writing like a mad person, critiquing books and things for friends, and catching up on those ever stacking emails. But now I’ve finally completed my tasks and caught up on things. Goodness does it feel good! I love doing those things but sometimes I need a bit of a breather away from the computer, you know? A special thanks to some of Fallen Matter’s characters, Cyrus, Isaac, Tiff, Elan, and Lykan (and Elan again), for taking care of my blog for me while I wrote their tale. *winks* You guys were great. Well, some of you. *looks pointedly at Lykan*

As for July, I’m going to LIVE. I’m going to swim and paint my nails weird colors and watch movies with my siblings and waste away the day on Pinterest guilt free and read and maybe even write a short story which is a subject for another time. But the main thing is I don’t have any huge projects demanding my attention. So for a while I’m just going to breathe a bit and maybe take some time away from the computer. If I’m not prompt on email answering and such, that’s why. (Because I’m always so prompt already, riiight? *grins*) And then, once I’ve gotten my breath of fresh air, well, we’ll see what August brings.

For now I’m going to enjoy the lazy days of summer and celebrate in the satisfying conclusion of another adventure.

The moral of this post? Brush your teeth often! You never know what will come of it. *nods sagely*