July 12, 1998
12:20 a.m.
Actually doing something yourself is the great teacher, you know. Last weekend, I wrote about going to the Kris and Dean show in Indianapolis. And I commented about how much I learned. But sitting in a classroom and hearing people talk about writing is only of value if you can do something with it when you're alone in front of the computer screen. So Saturday I sat down with a pile of Post-it notes and a pencil and a pair of blank walls. Sitting there, I pulled out the entire manuscript of Glamour of the God-touched and read it. After each chapter, I collected my thoughts and applied some of the plotting concepts we had covered (which can mostly be boiled down to "setting", and "try, fail/succeed, things get worse"--but to leave it at that would be to trivialize things to extremes). By the end of the day I had covered probably 45 feet of wall and had learned a lot about my plot. I found elements in the original story that weren't required (little things like Chapter One). I found elements that weren't adequately supported, and I found characters doing things that weren't in their nature. As I went, I documented my plot, adding Post-its in places where I needed them. I had no plans to write anything Saturday, but added a few hundred words of minor clean-up. It was a heck of a lot of work. And it didn't feel like writing. But I had seen plot at the Kris and Dean show, and I wanted to understand mine. So I stuck with it. Then I sat down this morning. It's just past lunch time. I've added 8,800 words to my total this morning. I'm 2,000 words ahead of my three-week plan to deliver the manuscript by Worldcon. And now I'm going bowling with my family. Have a great day.  Daily Persistence is © Ron Collins |
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GREAT ARTICLE many thanks to Christopher Rowe |
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