Where did it all begin?

Quite a while back, it was suggested that I try NaNoWriMo, a month-long writing challenge every November where participants commit to writing a 50,000-word novel during the 30 days of November. Fat chance, I thought. I’d written a couple of screenplays in the few years before that, and they took me years! So, I passed on the idea.

However, in the back of my mind, I kept asking myself, could I write something in the format of a novel or short story? Eventually, I decided to write a single scene to see how it worked out. It took a little while, but I finished it. It came in at just over 700 words, and I was reasonably happy with it, though it was more difficult than I had expected. So, I shelved the idea and life continued on.

After a while, I started thinking about the scene I had written. My brain was telling me, “It was quite good. You only need to write a bunch more, and you have a novel.” I had to admit I did enjoy the experience, so I eventually decided to give it a good crack.

I planned, wrote, edited, and edited some more. I then changed the story, wrote some more and edited some more, and now I finally have a novel I think is suitable for publication.

I look back on that original scene, and I cringe a little. Not the best prose ever to be put to paper, but I’ve learned a lot over the years, and I’m more than satisfied with the result. A radically different version of that scene is actually in the book, so you could consider it a sneak peek, of sorts.

You can find a copy of the original scene here. Enjoy.