Work on a revision of Warming Up begins

Finally, after nearly three long winter months of playing around on myspace and feeding the squirrels, I have summoned the courage to begin work on a revision of Warming Up at the Ramada. Up until a few days ago, I had hoped that On Various Subjects would be the next of three works in progress to enter the production cycle. But in attempting to focus my energies on that project, I just couldn’t get into it. The will to create, it seemed, was dead in me. Or, perhaps it was because I just wasn’t ready to let go of Warming Up.

I remember how, after three years of working on the raw materials for Warming Up, I had reached a stage in the writing process that I could no longer bring myself to work on it. I’d sit at my "desk" all day long, and nothing was accomplished. I must have instinctively known that I needed to get some feedback before pressing onward with the final revision. The original manuscript was enormous, an overwhelming 600 pages. The thought of going over it again, even one more time in its entirety, was tormenting. Sure, it was readable, but the central organizing principle of the work had been lost in some parts of the story; and it was confusing even to me sometimes. So, I began the process of reducing the manuscript to its essence, taking out everything that I possibly could without destroying the flow of it altogether. The result was a ninety-six-page synopsis.

So, now, after these past few months of "rambling" all over the Web, I am back at it again: writing and rewriting, rearranging the same materials that have preoccupied my thoughts for the past six years. What is it about this project that keeps me coming back to it?

Perhaps the best answer is to be found in the opening exchange of an interview with Laura Wood, for A Different World web site:

Laura: What was your intent with your newest book, Warming Up?

Kim: Self-expression mainly. Of course, I really didn’t have any choice in the matter. A good idea is like a seed coming in contact with the soil (your energies): it knows not why, it just grows. Like the time that you lied to your best friend and it bothered you for days until you finally confessed. If you have something to say, you write like a sick cat eats grass.

If you would like to read the rest of the interview, you can find it at:
http://adifferentworld.synthasite.com/interview.php