Mental Meanderings

And on that note

I forgot to set my timer this morning. I know I did 20 minutes because of the amount of time that passed but for some reason not having that timer beep off my time makes me feel like I let myself down. Perhaps I should start again with the timer going and do another 20 minutes? I guess I'll write this blog entry and consider that option.

The truth is I finished another scene so starting the next 20 would mean getting into the next scene. There is nothing wrong with that obviously but I've been finding each scene has been broken into 20 minute chunks and it's really comfortable to write like that.

This morning I finished the carousel ride. The end of the ride we get a paragraph of Emma thoughts where she begins to consider she's feeling a great deal for Jake but that she's trying to convince herself it's just lust. Just the beginning of the inner turmoil she'll go through by the end of the book and I'm thinking it needed to have been introduced earlier in the book also to reinforce here.

Anyway, the novel is still coming along well and I'm very pleased with the progress. I'm about halfway through. Word length is no where near where it could be but I can always fill out the scenes when I edit.

I was reading, "Write Faster, Write Better" by David A. Fryxell. There are some great ideas in that book. Some which I'd read elsewhere, some I'd already applied and some others that I could stand to listen too. One involved writing near perfect first drafts. I suspect this is something that will take practice. But perhaps I should stop thinking along the lines of 'I'll fix it later, I'll fill the scenes more completely later' etc.

The truth is I'm so pleased that the story is getting on the page however bland and rough it is. I don't want to get into the process of self editing as I'm writing. I've learnt the chaos having that running critique going through my head as I write. If I start saying, "Nope don't like that line, that word, needs more here, needs less there," etc. I expect to find myself moving backward more than forward or at least stalling.

So, at least this time around I'll write with the hopes of needing very little editing but without sensoring the run of words. Perhaps in this technique David A. Fryxell and I differ. Or perhaps it's a hard lesson I'll learn eventually by experience. When I'm more confident and have had more practice writing and editing I think the first drafts will improve anyway. So as my very first, first draft I'm letting it fly a little.

Goodbye for now. I've got guests coming for the day. Thursday, the day of going out and getting things done, enjoying a lovely lunch and the company of adults. I really enjoy Thursdays