Simple Things
July 18, 2000
7:25 a.m.
I am the first one to admit that I take a pretty structured approach to creation. If you've been around here any amount of time, you know that I tend to plan what I'm going to write, and generally adhere to a schedule. My body has grown accustomed to the fact that I expect it to be creative between about 5 and 7 in the morning, and it generally goes along with my plan. On the other hand, one can get too tied up in plans. Looking back, I see the past two weeks have been a period of fairly active idea generation. I got a one-day story two weekends ago, and the foundation for another story last weekend. My plan, however, has been to finish the first draft of the Analog sequel. Yes, I have made progress on that front, but its nowhere near to on the original schedule. As of this morning, I'm another day behind, too. The problem, you see, is that I got another idea this morning. It's based around a really interesting pair of characters, and a really interesting situation. So, I scrapped my plan again this morning, and let this pair run for a bit. 1700 words or so later I now understand the friction between them, and I like them even more. I have, however, come to the meat of the piece wherein I need to answer four questions before I'll be able to finish the story. When I first started writing, I would get frustrated at these things. I'm a schedule freak, you see. I must hit schedule--or at least get close. [grin] We're making a release at work this week. It's on schedule. Right now, anyway. Schedules are our friends. Deadlines give me direction. When I first started, I would forge ahead on the story I was working on, and force it into the schedule box. Any new ideas might be jotted down, or might not. Damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead. Must hit deadline. There's no real problem with that, either. I like that I've proven to myself that I can do it that way. The ability to hit deadlines with publishable material is an important trait to build. If Stan Schmidt calls me this afternoon and says he needs a sequel on his desk by the end of the week, I know I can hit that deadline. But sometimes I have to step back and look at the work. The fact is that I'm not on a deadline to anyone else but me. Yes, I could have forged on with the Analog sequel. But this idea was burning brightly inside me this morning. Those 1700 words came in about an hour and a half. They're a pretty good 1700 words, too. Sure, they need work--they are first draft, you know? But they move characters and story, and they describe details that I may not have gotten if I would have waited. Details are about immersion. And this morning I was so interested in this idea that it was easy to immerse myself into it. Hence 1700 words. But as Lisa and I have discussed several times over the past few weeks, it's hard to separate anything from an entire system. My personality is not the type that would have let me lay the Analog sequel aside some time ago. Part of what lets me actually lay it aside now is knowing that I can hit a deadline when I need to. Yes, I'm strange. But knowing I can pick things up a notch and make them work actually enables me to leave things be when faced with a different idea. Sometimes the simple things are the most complicated.   Have a great day.  Likely Excuse, Collins Daily Persistence is © Ron Collins |
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I think I crossed 500 rejections for the career yesterday ... |
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