Day 65 Today's word count: 1,538 Overall word count: 51,460
Yeah, I'm back. There was a week and a half, close to two weeks, where I had family in town. My mom, and all my siblings and their kids, all in the same place for the first time in years. Bit of a family reunion. So not only did I not write anything, I didn't re-read anything, either. But I did keep thinking. Can't help but do that. Which is good, because I was coming up on a bit of a roadblock anyway. A spot where I knew what should probably happen, but couldn't visualize the place or the conversation, and I kept refusing to fake it. As it happens, a two-week break was forced upon me right then anyway, and by the time I was ready to write again (i.e. yesterday), the image was in my mind. Now that things are more or less back to normal, yesterday and today have been pretty productive days. I have a general feel for how things are likely to play out going forward. Not well for my protagonist, to be honest. But I'll follow the story line wherever it goes. Thanks for reading!
Day 46 Today's word count: 3,304 Overall word count: 46,299
(WARNING: Hideously gory clip)
So, after two quiet days, I cranked out a large chapter today in its entirety. Good feeling. And most of the chapter is a confrontation, then a fight, between two important characters, both of whom I think are pretty sympathetic. I think it's good stuff. I also think I may be past halfway done at this point. When I think of what's happening now, and what I think is going to happen, I feel as though I may be on the downslope. Hard to tell, though. A hobby of mine - my only hobby, really, until I started trying this writing thing - is music. I've been playing the guitar for 25 years, and I've been in bands for all that time. I've recorded five or six full-length albums, a handful of EPs, and a single for an independent film soundtrack. All of that is simply to say that I've spent hundreds of hours of my life in recording studios. And one thing that a musician will often do, when recording, is bring along some albums that he or she really likes the sound of. That way, whether during recording or mixing, there's a standard to check back against. Stuff like: "Does our snare drum sound like John Stanier's? Well, if that isn't possible, does it at least sound close?" When I finish the first draft of this novel, I intend to do something similar. I plan to read a couple of books that I think are really well-written and paced, so that when I go back for rewrite, I have a good feel for what's exciting or boring, what's overwritten or underwritten, what's plausible or laughable. Kind of like a palate cleansing sorbet for the ol' language centers.
Day 44 Today's word count: 1,252 Overall word count: 42,991
Hey! (Click the video. Always click them. They're meant to be background music and images.) A solid day today, after a few relatively quiet ones. But even the quiet days involve quite a bit of reread and rewrite. In writing, I have to go back, periodically, to remember what happened, or who said what to whom, so that the current writing agrees with the previous. And in doing so, I try not to perform too much serious rewrite. I leave the plot, setting, and characters alone as much as possible. Those can wait until the second draft. But I do correct small things as I read. I can't stand not to: I'm a proofreader by trade, after all. And they are things that would have to be fixed sooner or later anyway, so all I'm doing is saving myself that much time later on down the line, right? And many of the little fixes have to do with pronouns and their antecedents. It seems to me, in reading as well as writing, that so much of the rhythm of prose involves the subtle interchange of nouns and pronouns. I'll reread a paragraph, trying to figure out where "she" is adequate and understandable, and where "Emma" is needed to remind the reader who is speaking and who is hearing. As with so many other elements of writing prose, a balance must be struck between boring the reader with unnecessary detail, and leaving him or her in the dark. With pronouns, in particular, I intend to ask my first readers: in the dialogue, can you always tell who is talking, or do you ever have to read back to figure it out? So, anyway. Writing a lot, reading a lot. This is a killer story, I believe firmly. Also, Schoolhouse Rock is amazing. I belong to that generation of Americans who have those few dozen songs, the Schoolhouse Rock songs, embedded in their heads. For me, I always retained the grammar and math songs and kind of disregarded the history ones. But having said that, the song about the Preamble to the United States Constitution has been stuck in my head for over three decades. I remember hearing the urban legend that John Sebastian, of The Lovin' Spoonful and Woodstock fame, was the singer on a bunch of these. Not so: it was jazz and session vocalist Bob Dorough. Only difference is I'm raising a toast to you tonight, Bob instead of John. Cheers. This TV show subliminally taught me English syntax. Thank you, Schoolhouse Rock. To everyone else, good night.
(Click "play" on the video, then go ahead and read.)
Doesn't that feel better? Day 41 Today's word count: 1,260 Overall word count: 40,689 Fourth of July on Friday, then kids back in town for Saturday, meant not a ton of words produced this weekend. But still plenty of thinking going on. So tonight I cranked out some rewrite and half of a new chapter, which I'm setting aside really only because my brain is tired and I have a conference call (with my own family, of all people) in half an hour. Tomorrow, I suspect, will be a pretty solid day, as I have lots of action and exposition up on deck. They tend to go faster for me than dialogue does. I also realize that I think I have a pretty solid idea of how the rest of this story is going to turn out. I am open to being surprised by things my characters say or do, and am happy to adjust on the fly, but I think I generally know what's coming up, and I'm excited. Because it's badass.
Today's word count: 511 Overall word count: 38,797
Who cares who is on the horse-drawn coach with the asshole protagonist? I don't. Skip ahead to the destination. If it ends up mattering in hindsight, insert a chapter later.
