Dennis Ruane's Blog: Walnut Creek Studio

I finished The Battle of Walnut Hollow early this year and have been working on rewriting and editing. The first revision has always been my least favorite part of the process because there are so many loose ends and gaps to fill in. After the first couple rewrites, the story is complete and I enjoy the process from then on. Currently I'm about a third of the way through the second rewriting.

I had a difficult time with the ending and I had to force myself to finally just finish the final chapters. I've known how the story was going to end for years, but I"m having a hard time describing what is in my head. I reworked the last chapter extensively on the first time through, and I know there's more work waiting for me when I get there again.

A few more times through, then I'll solicit volunteers to read the manuscript and give me feedback on the story. Then more adjustments, editing and tweaking. I usually go through the manuscript fifteen to twenty times before I let it go. I have some ideas for a cover, but nothing on file yet. At this point, I'm aiming for early spring to publish.

I'm working on Chapter Forty-three of The Battle of Walnut Hollow, and I guess that it will take about three more chapters to finish the story.

This will be the most political novel I've ever written and I also suspect it will be the last one I will write. I intend to keep writing, but on a smaller scale.

In my four novels, I've made every effort to tell a good story and entertain the reader, but I also wove in my point of view of life, things that I believe need to be said. Somehow I feel if I can't say it in four novels, then maybe I can't say it.

At any rate, they take so much time and I have other things I want to do as I get old, such as more woodcarving and more gardening.I do plan to spend some time promoting my novels, something I've been very passive about. In general people seem to like my stories and now I need to spread them around.

I'm back to Goodreads after a year hiatus. I've decided to give social networking in general a try again and I'm enjoying it this time around.

I have been writing on and off, and lately I'm getting into a good rhythm. The novel I was working on last year, The Battle of Walnut Hollow, is thirty two chapters long now and I have the rest of the story worked out in my head. I think that's why the momentum is picking up, I have the story now and I just need to finish writing it.

I have been self-employed as a woodcarver for over thirty years now and while an enjoyable and rewarding occupation, it has been a challenging way to make a living—long hours and low pay. I must confess that at times when money is tight and bills need to be paid, woodcarving becomes much like a regular job and a demanding regular job at that.

I have wanted to write a novel since about the time I started carving, but couldn’t seem to find the time or the ideas until ten years ago. I think that in my case I needed to accumulate experiences to then draw on for writing material. Another notion that came with experience was to preserve writing as a hobby and never allow it to become a demanding occupation. Not that I don’t take this hobby seriously—writing is as important to me now as woodcarving was and is—but I want to keep my writing uninfluenced by external pressures such paying the bills. So, I think I’ll hang on to my day job.

That being said, The Battle of Walnut Hollow is coming along well; I’ve got about six chapters roughed out and the general outline of the story is complete in my head. This novel is based where I now live, in Madison County, North Carolina.

I am in the habit of writing early in the morning, while it is still dark and quiet outside. Upon finishing my third novel, The Man in the Room, I decided to take a break and devote this morning solitude to some other activity such as revamping my website or studying art history. But after years of such a wonderful morning routine, I found that I missed the feel of working on another story and no other activity could seem to fill in the space.

So I begin.

The Battle of Walnut Hollow. Chapter One