Day 9: Shuffling the Work
April 9, 2001
6:45 a.m.
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3,650 Words:  Yeah, the number looks pretty good for a Monday morning, and I suppose it is. It's artificially high for two reasons, the first of which being that I'm firmly into a part of the story that I had written previously, so progress has consisted of line editing and rewriting bits to remain consistent with earlier sections. The second reason the number is as high as it is, is that I did some reprioritizing of my workload. Yesterday, as I said, I came to the conclusion of the "beginning." This morning I sat down and found myself struggling to get all the story lines in order as I move forward into the expansion of the work. The middle of the story is a big tangle of thread right now, and I seriously need to get each of these threads wrung out before I'm going to feel comfortable that I really understand everything about the story. This will take a little concerted effort. But there was a section just ahead that I know is going to remain, and just needed some tweaking and pushing and prodding to get it back into line. So this morning I allowed myself to move up into the story and work on that segment. Hence all those glorious words you see attributed to my progress. Foul! you call. I hear it. Foul! No fair! You've still got to go back and do the hard stuff. This is right, of course. Shying away from the hardest work is a terrible habit to start. Normally I would have dug my heels in this morning and forced myself to get into untangling the ball of thread. Normally I would have figured out more detailed plotlines for each character and listed a few specifics as to how they behave in relation to their goals and motivations at various times. But there's a twist today. This morning I'll be driving down to Tennessee for business once again. And I looked forward this morning to see that I was going to have a full evening in a hotel room by myself. I don't know about anyone else, but I don't write as well in remote locations as I do down in my little basement cubbyhole. Or at least I don't write as comfortably--which may lead to writing better. Or not. [grin] But I figure I can think just about anyplace. So I gave myself permission to play with words today.   I'll pay the piper this evening, though. I'll update tomorrow from the hotel room if I get a chance. No promises. If I don't update it doesn't mean I'm not working on it. Have a good day. See ya.   Oh, you're a sneaky one, man Daily Persistence is © Ron Collins |
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"I know some great writers, writers you love who write beautifully and have made a great deal of money, and not one of them sits down routinely feeling wildly enthusiastic and confident. Not one of them writes elegant first drafts. All right, one of them does, but we do not like her very much." Anne Lamott |
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