photo by Christina Stackhouse

I have spent the last two weeks essentially taking a jackhammer to the 1st and 2nd acts of Book Three, trying to not only delete the words I’ve already written, but to erase the wagon ruts those words have created in my mind so I can envision new ones.

Which is why, for me, it is so unhelpful to just get words down every day and why paying too much attention to word daily counts goals can be so detrimental—because the wrong words aren’t only unhelpful, but they can end up derailing the RIGHT words that I will ultimately need to find.

I’ve heard it said that you can never cross the same river twice, which I take to essentially mean that the fluid nature of water and the ever-changing flotsam and jetsam that is floating in a river at any given time changes constantly so therefore a new river is created every few seconds.

I find this true for writing. If I start a story before I’ve let it simmer long enough, I am forging across the wrong damn river. It’s not the river I want to cross at all, but it’s too late because I’m hip deep in the rushing rapids of the wrong damn river.

Sure, I can wade back out, but by then, the actual river I wanted to cross may have already sailed on by.

It’s the same as if working with concrete. Once you add water to the concrete mix and start to stir, you’re time is finite. You only have so many minutes with which to work with the stuff before it starts to harden and set. And once it sets? You can’t simply erase it or wipe the surface smooth. You have to take a bloody jackhammer and break it apart chunk by chunk.

So it’s best to really think about where you want that concrete, what shape it should have, what you want the surface texture to be like, and then take the time to build the correct form or mold, because once it’s poured, it is no easy thing to change it.

And that’s what happens for me if I start writing a book, a scene, a storyline too soon. It becomes so firm in my mind that it can be hard to let go of it completely so that I can find the truest version of the story I’m trying to tell.

And the thing is, I know this about my process. And still I fall into the trap of rushing things. Usually because of impending deadlines and an ever increasing sense of panic. But ultimately, it does more harm than good and I wishwishwish I could remember that.

So that’s been my week. Hope yours has been better!