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With coffee and writing implements at hand, I can determine the shape of today. |
| I tend to write in the morning. After morning coffee and writing comes whatever the day holds...work, more writing, family time, reading, maybe even some gaming. It just depends...but writing first, always. And once I start writing, I get an idea not only of what I'm writing about, but how the rest of my day will go. Hence, the shape of today. |
| One of the numerous things affected by the pandemic is our library system's courier service. Putting a book on hold from another library used to take a week or two; now it can take months due to shutdowns, quarantine procedures, and staffing challenges. When I stumbled across a Stephen King book called Secret Windows, I was surprised because I'd thought it was a work of fiction...a novella published on its own. This isn't the case. It seems to be a companion volume to On Writing that I somehow missed entirely. Naturally I put a hold on it, some weeks ago now. It's on its way from Warner-Robins, which means God knows when it will show up. In the meantime, I've re-read On Writing and found that many of my writing habits need to be modified, if I'm serious about the craft. I knew this in the back of my mind, but getting reminded of it in the middle of NaNoWriMo is of course a much-needed shot in the arm. Mostly it's made me realize that the project that probably needs the most attention is my "Crown Jewel", my oldest writing project. It occurred to me the other night that I'm cluttering it up way too much with stuff it doesn't need, so I plan to go in and trim some of that fat. The characters are there (a couple need some tweaking), the location is there, the situation is there. I'm going to trust to Sai King's anti-outlining admonitions and just let the story itself take off. Oh, and naturally the King also reminded me that a writer reads. Always. I've finished On Writing (for the third time), but while waiting for my traveling book I picked up Ken Follett's Eye of the Needle, which I think I may have read as a teenager. No matter; it's an excellent ride so far, and I'm trying to make a habit of studying how Follett manages his language, his characters, and his story. These are things I need to keep an eye on no matter what I'm reading. |
| WDC is gently poking me to update my blog this morning, so here goes. I have been quiet here of late, focusing my writing energy on NaNoWriMo. And how is that going fourteen days into the month, you ask? Well, about like I expected. I knew I wouldn't be able to keep up the 1,667 words a day such a project demands, but I am pleased to note that when I can spare time to work on it, the words are flowing and the story seems to be going somewhere. I also note all sorts of issues with it, but NaNoWriMo seems to be more about developing the habit of writing each day, and that's what I'm focusing on. On days when I simply can't...I simply can't. I don't stress over it. Will I have a finished project by the end of November? Probably not. But I will have a rough shape that I can begin to chip away at and turn into something that resembles the finished project in my head. Therefore, it is not a wasted effort at all. Now there are some more mundane things poking at my mind...laundry, cleaning up the breakfast dishes, maybe even some cleaning. Somehow doing these things fuels the writing impulse for me, so it's best that I get to them. |
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