I can remember the very day I started this novel. It was 1996, and I was in my Algebra II class. The stupid guys—very stereotypical dumb jocks—were starting to harass me. I ignored them, which usually worked. Staring down at my brand new spiral notebook, I decided to just start writing. I’ll dig out that original beginning sometime and post it here. LOL
It wasn’t my best work. After reading so many Star Trek novels, I consciously wanted to write a story that I got to be in. I wanted to have an adventure with Kirk and Spock...okay, mostly Spock. LOL It was all rather...Mary Sue-ish of me. But what a concept—Kirk, Spock and McCoy discover they need the help of a dumpy, nerdy twentieth century 15 year old girl! *ahem* Like I said, not my best work. But it was fun and exciting at the time.
I left that notebook alone for several years, until 1999. That summer, I spent a minimum of one hour EVERY night writing (mostly rewriting the old version). But after about 200 pages, typed, I got a little bored with it. So, I made sure I had it saved in multiple locations, and had a printed copy, and set it to the side once more.
Around the holidays of 2001, the need to work on the novel took me again. But, I knew that I was going to need to rewrite the entire beginning once more. So I did it, and once I had a prologue and Chapter One rewritten, it was smooth sailing to catch up with everything that had been written. But, that being done, I once more set it to the side. With a project this large, you really have to be in the right "zone" to write properly. Occasionally, I would open the file and skim parts of it…but more often than not, I would only find myself finding weaknesses in the plot.
So, it wasn’t until now, February 2003, that I decided to start fresh. I really liked what I had written last time, but I knew that in the end, it wouldn’t lead to the plot I wanted to take shape. What did I do? You guessed it—I started to rewrite the prologue and Chapter One again. And now, you’re up to date.
