The Windmill Road
National Novel Writing Month, November 2004. The goal was to write 50,000 words in 30 days. And lo and behold, I accomplished this feat. (It wasn't easy, people!) The only real downside to this is that because I had to write so quickly, the thing never had a chance to go through the editing process like my other long works do. For those of you who want to know what one of my real rough drafts looks like, this is it!
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Chapter: One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight | Nine | Ten | Eleven | Twelve | Thirteen | Fourteen | Fifteen | Sixteen | Seventeen | Eighteen | Nineteen | Twenty | Twenty-one | Twenty-two | Twenty-three | Twenty-four | Twenty-five | Twenty-six | Twenty-seven
Click here for the PDF version
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Commentary:
The Windmill Road is my second attempt at fantasy, Ace Dominick being the first. TWR is very experimental and random and uncut and raw... It doesn't follow a lot of contemporary fantasy rules, mostly because I don't really like some of the trends in modern fantasy--one reason among many why I'm not very comfortable with writing in the genre. For example, in TWR, absolutely none of the prophecies, destinies, or fated events actually happen... The "magic" is no more than a cheap trick... And while there are fairies and dragons and elves and gnomes, I made a point of saying that there are no such things as dwarves. Why? I don't know. This is what writing at thirty minutes to midnight on a Friday does to my fiction.
Overall, the work is lighthearted throughout. What little attempts are made at serious subject matter are mostly there to increase the word count. The last chapter is a prime example of me just ranting on and on while trying to make it to 50,000. The best moments in the story involve a dragon named Crispo. Other scenes I like involve the imps, tavern stories, and the dragon slayer who wimps out (chapter thirteen).
Enjoy this look into my unedited mind. Any major mistakes or criticisms you have, please email me about them. It's unlikely I'll actually go back and edit this later unless you tell me what to edit.
aetre@xepher.net