The Waiting Game – how to play it

Impatience

I hate to wait. Don’t we all. But I’m in The Waiting Game now, and for at least a week or so, I will discipline myself to find something to do besides thinking about whether or not I’ll get an agent or an editor.

Since I don’t like waiting, I’ve decided not to sit around and think about it, but to do something creative. Yesterday, I opened a Create Space account on Amazon, where I plan to self-publish novellas and short stories.

Also yesterday, I started revising a Zorro story I put on FanFiction two years ago. Of course I had to start with probably the longest one. And of course, there are a lot of changes that need to be made…like search and replace names, etc.

I’m fast-forwarding 1820 California, a Spanish colony at that time, to 1871 Kansas – to make it a western. So the swordplay is out. Spanish words (which I know very few) are out – and changing characters and characteristics. Deleting certain characters is also something I’ll be doing – like the evil alcalde. Instead of dreams of being a peon, my character, Ethan, will still dream of being a poor dirt farmer.

Revisions and rewrites are part of the process. I think I touched on that last week. Since I decided to start with probably the hardest story (the last one) as far as complexity and plot – it’s less an action story and more of a spiritual journey.

From Family Channel Zorro

When I wrote it two years ago, I did research on NDEs, and mystics that would have been known to the Church in 1820. It will be called Lightning Strikes Twice – the same as the Zorro story. If you’re on FanFiction, you can check it out under TV/Zorro/Lightning Strikes Twice. It was the last one I wrote.

My disclaimer: My writing has improved quite a bit since then. I generally do not “head hop” now. What’s that? Jumping into different characters’ point of view within the same scene. Sheesh.

And keep an eye out. Maybe I’ll put up a couple of pages from Meghan’s Choice under that page soon. And – I’ve got some book reviews coming as well.

So, I’ll be busy, and before I know it, maybe The Waiting Game will be over.

Here’s the link to the Zorro story.