Race Against Time . . .
You know, I almost completely forgot about this! I had intended to include it in the "Doings at Rooglewood" post, but it slipped my mind. And some of you might not have seen this yet, so I definitely want to give you the opportunity.
I did a recorded interview, my very first ever, a few weeks back. You can click here to follow the link. It's about forty minutes long or more, so be sure you have a cup of tea on hand! I hope you'll enjoy it. I haven't had the gumption to listen to it myself--never like the sound of my own voice in recording, plus I'm really afraid I may have said something goofy, but as long as I don't hear myself say it I can pretend it never happened. Let me know if it's not too painful!
I am working on a book. Have been most of this month. And it's just about wringing my neck.
Writing is getting harder for me, not easier. I have written seven complete works in the last four years, which is a lot of material. But each one has been harder than the last (except for Goddess Tithe, which was a sweet little writerly picnic). Even Draven's Light, my 2015 novella, was a monster, and it's only a little over 50,000 words long.
Length has nothing to do with it. Nor complexity, I'm discovering. For the project I am currently writing is no where near as complex as Golden Daughter, but I'm finding it far more difficult to write . . . which isn't to say Golden Daughter was always a walk in the park!
Rohan, being the fount of wisdom he is (there's a lot of brain matter behind that beautiful face), says he thinks the reason each book is getting harder to write is because I am pushing myself more each time. I think there's something to that. I always want my newest project to be that much better than the last. But if the last project was hard, the new one must be harder.
And, if you'll pardon the cliche, I'm definitely struggling to see the forest for the trees. I did the same thing with Draven's Light. Iubdan's beard, did I ever hate that manuscript the whole time I was writing it! I felt as though I was just "putting words on the screen," not telling a story at all. This current project feels very much the same way . . .
But the other day, after pounding out a few thousand "words on the screen" and fully believing I was producing nothing worth anybody's time, I decided to take a look at Draven's Light. I hadn't looked at it since finishing it, and I wrote that story SO FAST I didn't remember it all that well. So I opened it up and gave it a little browse.
And discovered . . . hey! It's not a complete disaster after all. In fact, it might even be pretty wonderful . . . with a little tweaking . . .
So I am hoping that's what's happening with this current manuscript as well. Hoping there are good bones to be had beneath all this flabby word count. I know the idea is good. It's been a good idea in theory since I was seventeen. It's been a better idea in practice since two months ago. But a good idea and a good manuscript are two very different animals.
Anyway, I'm really writing all of this tell you about the new trick I'm playing on myself these days to get this manuscript done. Or not done but rough drafted.
I've started timing myself. I set my timer for half an hour or 45 minute increments. And then I try to pound out as many words as I can in that time. No worries about quality, just pushing for quantity.
I've discovered that I can write over 1,000 words in a half hour if I'm timing myself. And I've had some pretty good writing days even though the inspiration has been low. This week, I've managed 21,500 words, and I'll probably try to get another few thousand in before the day is done. Probably.
And granted, most of it isn't stunning material. But that's the not the point. The point is to get the draft done. Once it's done, it can be manipulated into something worth reading. But how can you manipulate something that isn't there?
Anyway, I've been a bit quiet on the blogs and facebooks and networks various, and now you know why. I'm sitting at my desk, my timer counting down the minutes and seconds, racing against time to defuse the bomb, er, get that word count in!
It's really kind of exciting . . .
I did a recorded interview, my very first ever, a few weeks back. You can click here to follow the link. It's about forty minutes long or more, so be sure you have a cup of tea on hand! I hope you'll enjoy it. I haven't had the gumption to listen to it myself--never like the sound of my own voice in recording, plus I'm really afraid I may have said something goofy, but as long as I don't hear myself say it I can pretend it never happened. Let me know if it's not too painful!
I am working on a book. Have been most of this month. And it's just about wringing my neck.
Writing is getting harder for me, not easier. I have written seven complete works in the last four years, which is a lot of material. But each one has been harder than the last (except for Goddess Tithe, which was a sweet little writerly picnic). Even Draven's Light, my 2015 novella, was a monster, and it's only a little over 50,000 words long.
Length has nothing to do with it. Nor complexity, I'm discovering. For the project I am currently writing is no where near as complex as Golden Daughter, but I'm finding it far more difficult to write . . . which isn't to say Golden Daughter was always a walk in the park!
Rohan, being the fount of wisdom he is (there's a lot of brain matter behind that beautiful face), says he thinks the reason each book is getting harder to write is because I am pushing myself more each time. I think there's something to that. I always want my newest project to be that much better than the last. But if the last project was hard, the new one must be harder.
And, if you'll pardon the cliche, I'm definitely struggling to see the forest for the trees. I did the same thing with Draven's Light. Iubdan's beard, did I ever hate that manuscript the whole time I was writing it! I felt as though I was just "putting words on the screen," not telling a story at all. This current project feels very much the same way . . .
But the other day, after pounding out a few thousand "words on the screen" and fully believing I was producing nothing worth anybody's time, I decided to take a look at Draven's Light. I hadn't looked at it since finishing it, and I wrote that story SO FAST I didn't remember it all that well. So I opened it up and gave it a little browse.
And discovered . . . hey! It's not a complete disaster after all. In fact, it might even be pretty wonderful . . . with a little tweaking . . .
So I am hoping that's what's happening with this current manuscript as well. Hoping there are good bones to be had beneath all this flabby word count. I know the idea is good. It's been a good idea in theory since I was seventeen. It's been a better idea in practice since two months ago. But a good idea and a good manuscript are two very different animals.
Anyway, I'm really writing all of this tell you about the new trick I'm playing on myself these days to get this manuscript done. Or not done but rough drafted.
I've started timing myself. I set my timer for half an hour or 45 minute increments. And then I try to pound out as many words as I can in that time. No worries about quality, just pushing for quantity.
I've discovered that I can write over 1,000 words in a half hour if I'm timing myself. And I've had some pretty good writing days even though the inspiration has been low. This week, I've managed 21,500 words, and I'll probably try to get another few thousand in before the day is done. Probably.
And granted, most of it isn't stunning material. But that's the not the point. The point is to get the draft done. Once it's done, it can be manipulated into something worth reading. But how can you manipulate something that isn't there?
Anyway, I've been a bit quiet on the blogs and facebooks and networks various, and now you know why. I'm sitting at my desk, my timer counting down the minutes and seconds, racing against time to defuse the bomb, er, get that word count in!
It's really kind of exciting . . .
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