The challenge of reviving a novel drafted years ago

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The idea of writing a novel has been part of my life since I was a teenager, influenced by an excellent library - and two librarians - at my high school in Jamestown, NY.

But it wasn't until the 1990s that I actually pounded out a rough first draft of a novel about young woman in search of her father, a father who had been abusive and spent years in jail before disappearing from her life almost completely.

Almost.

Jack London at the wheel

But that book, Jack's Boat had been on my mind as I penned both The Fracking War and Fracking Justice in the past three years. The draft of it is novella-length, but I have always known it certainly had sufficient bones to make a full-length book. And today it's on my computer desktop, being edited (and rewritten), with the intention that about 25,000 more words will join what's been written to fill it out to full novel length.

The challenges of resurrecting a novel draft written nearly two decades ago are manifold. Technology changes. Places change. Social and culture mores change.

And then, there is simply the changes in the author.

Jack's Boat as drafted is, stylistically, substantially different than my recent novels. But what I learned in drafting those books - and with the help of good editors - is forcing some serious alterations in sentence length, use of dialog and even how to craft interior monologues of characters. And the story! Rereading this tale is like listening to someone tell a story you have heard before, but that you were hazy on many of the details.

All in all though, finishing Jack's Boat is already proving to be a fun ride. But I have an awful feeling there's tragedy ahead somewhere in the balance of book.

And the title? Jack's Boat refers to one of the vessels owned by late American author Jack London, whose works (and life) have had a huge influence on me since I was a teenager. Huge.

That's enough chatter. It's back to revising Chapter 6 of 19.

The happiest - and saddest - day for the novel writer

SACRAMENTO, Calif., USA - Until today, I have always had trouble understanding why some novels go on and on and on, long after most readers are ready for, well, The End.

When I started drafting The Fracking War in November, I thought I would never see The End.

But as I am tinkering with the final chapters (and likely an epilog), I can see why a novelist might want to simply keep writing.

All of these characters, scenarios, adventures, love triangles, disasters and triumphs that have been such a huge part of the writer's life for months come to a crashing end.

It reminds me of reading a really good novel. You know the kind, you want to book to just go on and on. The same thing happens to me with movies. Now that I am about to bid adieu to the 20 or so main folks in The Fracking War, it's like sailing away, leaving old friends at the dock.

I took a first run at the final two chapters today, and both need significant tinkering to make them as close to perfect as possible. In other chapters, well, it was clear that any questions or oddities could be simply handled down the line. Need to resolve an issue? Add that to the chapter notes for Thursday.

Now it all has to be tied up - as neatly as anything in real life is tied up. Perhaps it needs to be tied up even more neatly. The fate of  characters can't be left dangling.

The next time one of these blogs is written, I hope to say that the draft of The Fracking War is completed and will be facing an author edit.

If I don't, it's because I just couldn't say goodbye.