We all have times during the day when we do our best work. I do my best writing in the morning, the closer to the time I wake up the better. That's when I'm most in touch with my subconscious and my muse. Ideas come easily and the writing flows. Pages add up with no great effort. If I get a good start and then have to take a break I can go back later and continue writing with no problem.
However, if I don't start writing until later in the day, after assorted distractions have had time to lodge in my mind, then things get a lot harder. Writing becomes work. Sentences are toil, paragraphs hard labor. Two or three pages wear me out. That's why I don't understand writers, or anyone else, who don't hit their stride until late at night.
Today, my work time was very disjointed, had to go back to it four separate times, but I got my early start and each time I returned to the keyboard I was able to pick up where I'd left off with no problem.
Today's writing dealt with the protagonist trying to resolve one of the novel's main subplots. A word about that: A subplot shouldn't exist simply to provide the reader with something else to carry him through the story. It should be integral to the story and by the conclusion should dovetail into the main storyline, making the ending all the more satisfying.
I wrote six-plus pages today.
Day 47 of writing my new novel is done.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Day 46, May 13, 2010
There are writers who prefer to write longhand and others who are devoted to their typewriters. I've used both methods but having switched to a computer and word-processing software long ago, I'd never want to go back to either. To me, the old ways are barely preferable to cutting words in stone. The work I did today was a good example of why I prefer modern technology. As I started work on today's first scene, I realized that it should come before yesterday's last scene. No problem making the fix. Just write the scene, cut it and paste it where it belongs. So simple. So maddening in the old days.
Today I wrote five-plus pages but divided them among four scenes. So there were shorter scenes, each of them ratcheting up a story line. I've reached, approximately, the last third of the story. At this point, I want the pace to accelerate. The schemes the antagonists have set in motion are causing divisions among the general populace of the town where the story is set. Up 'til now the results of their actions have been relatively benign, but when people are set at odds with one another any manner of unintended consequences might occur. Showing that happen will build tension and a sense of urgency, drawing the reader more deeply into the story as the finale draws near.
Day 46 of writing my new novel is done.
Today I wrote five-plus pages but divided them among four scenes. So there were shorter scenes, each of them ratcheting up a story line. I've reached, approximately, the last third of the story. At this point, I want the pace to accelerate. The schemes the antagonists have set in motion are causing divisions among the general populace of the town where the story is set. Up 'til now the results of their actions have been relatively benign, but when people are set at odds with one another any manner of unintended consequences might occur. Showing that happen will build tension and a sense of urgency, drawing the reader more deeply into the story as the finale draws near.
Day 46 of writing my new novel is done.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Day 45, May 12, 2010
I wrote two scenes today. One involves ghosts and guilt; the other involves a pissed-off character hungry for vengeance. The ghost scene happens not in any haunted house but in an outdoor public setting with commuter traffic passing by. You don't believe in ghosts? So how might you react when you see two of them on your way to work, and, no, it's not just you who sees them. So do all the other people passing by. Mass hysteria? Stay tuned. The second scene looks at how and where a community can start to fall apart. When somebody feels the need to lash out, the lashing becomes more important than hitting the right target, and it's all downhill from there.
Today, I wrote five-plus pages. Very lean and tight. Satisfying.
Day 45 of writing my new story is done.
Today, I wrote five-plus pages. Very lean and tight. Satisfying.
Day 45 of writing my new story is done.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Day 44, May 11, 2010
Today was pleasantly productive: seven-plus pages written. The story was flowing and my energy level was good. I know that most people, those who don't write fiction, wonder how much energy it takes to tap out words on a keyboard for fewer than eight hours, and I've touched on that before in this blog. But I'll give it another go. When I'm writing well, I'm feeling what the characters are feeling: happy, sad, angry, scared. Anyone who's had an intense argument will know you can feel emotionally drained in minutes.The same thing can happen with an exhilarating event; you get high as a kite for a matter of moments and then you're limp as an old dishrag. So imagine sharing the emotional experiences, the challenges, and the daily grind of a dozen or more characters.Then there are all the technical matters to keep consistent over the course of hundreds of pages so the plot doesn't develop gaping holes.
Not that I'm complaining, mind you. I love what I do. And medical researchers say challenging your brain on a regular basis helps keep dementia at bay. So I look at writing a novel as practicing a good health habit.
In today's scenes, the protagonist is not allowed to enjoy a quiet evening with his spouse. The antagonists have struck again, and a tip is delivered revealing the identity of the sexual predator. Elsewhere, two of the antagonists are considering a lucrative offer to go straight, i.e. give up on what they've been plotting. But they have to confer with their leader and they don't know if she'll go for it. Besides, they have one exploit that's set to go first thing tomorrow morning and any change of plans will have to happen after that.
Day 44 of writing my new novel is done.
Not that I'm complaining, mind you. I love what I do. And medical researchers say challenging your brain on a regular basis helps keep dementia at bay. So I look at writing a novel as practicing a good health habit.
In today's scenes, the protagonist is not allowed to enjoy a quiet evening with his spouse. The antagonists have struck again, and a tip is delivered revealing the identity of the sexual predator. Elsewhere, two of the antagonists are considering a lucrative offer to go straight, i.e. give up on what they've been plotting. But they have to confer with their leader and they don't know if she'll go for it. Besides, they have one exploit that's set to go first thing tomorrow morning and any change of plans will have to happen after that.
Day 44 of writing my new novel is done.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Day 43, May 10, 2010
Recently, I wrote about the necessity of scrapping pages that veered from the intent of the story. Haven't changed my mind in the past 48 hours. But when you—or in this case I—happen to have a day when the writing just isn't as crisp as it usually is, it's best just to leave it overnight. Chances are you can come back the next day and upgrade both the art and the craft of the language. Sometimes both the muse and the writer can use a breather.
It can take a while to learn this, but once you do you're less likely to doubt that devoting your time to sitting down at the keyboard, or picking up a pen if you like to longhand it, was such a good idea.
Today was a time for moving the story along in small steps. A principal character unwittingly offers the antagonists a chance to sell out, i.e. an alternative, legal way to use their considerable skills. The truly creepy character, the sexual predator, realizes his doings have been uncovered and flees, misattributing his unmasking to the wrong person. The antagonists, not yet having received the opportunity to sell out, strike at the heart of the local power structure.
I wrote another five-plus pages today.
Day 43 of writing my new novel is done.
It can take a while to learn this, but once you do you're less likely to doubt that devoting your time to sitting down at the keyboard, or picking up a pen if you like to longhand it, was such a good idea.
Today was a time for moving the story along in small steps. A principal character unwittingly offers the antagonists a chance to sell out, i.e. an alternative, legal way to use their considerable skills. The truly creepy character, the sexual predator, realizes his doings have been uncovered and flees, misattributing his unmasking to the wrong person. The antagonists, not yet having received the opportunity to sell out, strike at the heart of the local power structure.
I wrote another five-plus pages today.
Day 43 of writing my new novel is done.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Day 42, May 9, 2010
Today marks a turning point in the story, a plot point as they say in the movie biz. A closely held secret becomes general knowledge through the old media format of a radio show: a character who wasn't meant to see a big secret, saw it and then blabbed to the public over radio waves. This means, with good reason, that many thousands of people are learning of something ill-defined but dangerous in their midst. The lack of specificity allows people to imagine all sorts of menacing possibilities, which is a lot scarier than having a single well-defined threat against which you can mobilize forces.
As this is going on, the protagonist is following his most promising lead only to find that person has left town. But he discovers the person he's after is using one of seven names, unless one of those names is only an alias. Still, it's a start, and our hero has resources at his command.
I wrote five-plus pages today.
Day 42 of writing my new novel is done.
As this is going on, the protagonist is following his most promising lead only to find that person has left town. But he discovers the person he's after is using one of seven names, unless one of those names is only an alias. Still, it's a start, and our hero has resources at his command.
I wrote five-plus pages today.
Day 42 of writing my new novel is done.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Day 41, May 8, 2010
Today, as I've said a few times before, I wrote five pages. Except that I really wrote eight pages. Problem was, the first three I wrote I wound up ditching. Not that the writing wasn't any good. It was clean, fast, really moved. There were some funny lines in there, too. But it was off point. Didn't advance the story one bit. It was like a musician carrying a solo too far. At that point, it's an exercise in ego. Hey, look at what I can do.
Bore the reader, turn off an editor is what I can do—if I'm not careful. But I try my best to stay true to the story. So I scrapped half-a-day's work. Which really put me behind. So I stayed late at the keyboard and got five pages done. It's important to me now to keep the momentum going.
In today's writing, I showed why a character who's under considerable pressure and will be important to the story later on didn't just blow town. It's important that characters do what they do for reasons the reader can understand and believe. In another scene, the protagonist realizes the antagonists have gotten inside his head. Seemingly innocent sights take on sinister meanings for him. Putting him off balance is exactly what the antagonists want. So will he fall or find his balance? Keep reading, reader.
Day 41 of writing my new novel is done.
Bore the reader, turn off an editor is what I can do—if I'm not careful. But I try my best to stay true to the story. So I scrapped half-a-day's work. Which really put me behind. So I stayed late at the keyboard and got five pages done. It's important to me now to keep the momentum going.
In today's writing, I showed why a character who's under considerable pressure and will be important to the story later on didn't just blow town. It's important that characters do what they do for reasons the reader can understand and believe. In another scene, the protagonist realizes the antagonists have gotten inside his head. Seemingly innocent sights take on sinister meanings for him. Putting him off balance is exactly what the antagonists want. So will he fall or find his balance? Keep reading, reader.
Day 41 of writing my new novel is done.
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