With today's work done, I feel pretty good about what I've accomplished. I still wanted to write more, but I figured that if I did, I would probably end up regretting it. Not because I wouldn't enjoy myself, but the day is beautiful, I want to see my kids, and it's getting later than I prefer. It takes me a good three or four hours to crank out my 3-5,000 words (I'd say that I get between 900 and 1,100 words per hour, so, with that rough estimate, I have poured at least 240 hours into this book, to say nothing of the work I've put in away from the keyboard, or in wasted chapters), and it seems like sometimes, even though I have an idea of what to say next--and I'm really eager to see it--I can't convince myself to actually give it a shot. Part of it is the fact that I'm wanting to get home. Part of it is that I'm not wanting to overkill a chapter by too much cherishing, if you catch my allusion...and drift.
See, I have sometimes been on such a writing high that I crank out 7-10,000 words (rarely the latter, but it's been known to happen), and, upon reflection, I get so caught up in trying to tell the story that I stop paying attention to how I'm telling the story.
Don't get me wrong, the tale I tell is of paramount importance. The cool world, interesting sights (mental note: Need more of those), and world building all fall flat if the story isn't likewise intriguing and worthwhile. So I think that the story is perhaps one of the most important segments of what I'm doing. But when I get too carried away by the story, the fine details and control of the chapters get away from me. I find that my action scenes in particular (something that I'm already leery of, as I've discussed before) are boring and flat, with little to differentiate them and certainly lacking in awesomeness. I try to infuse as much creativity and reality and specificity as I can in each chapter. When I get swept up by the story, that's less likely--much less likely--to happen.
That's why I'm stopping now. My characters are all in dire situations, and I don't know where I'm going to go when I hit the keyboard again next week (Spring Break writing, perhaps?), as I don't know which character needs exploration next. But I have some time to ponder on it.
By the way, this month is National Poetry Month, and that makes me proud to have been born in the month of April. Likewise, my book is all about poetry as a magic system. Perhaps this is an omen that I'll finish the book this year in April. Then, because of all my earnest yearnings, I'll miraculously see the book released in April of 2013 to such raucous applause and adulation that I'll immediately be able to let my wife become a stay at home mom, we'll pay off the credit card, and my career as a writer will launch into the stratosphere.
It could happen.
Right?
Riiiiight. ;P
See, I have sometimes been on such a writing high that I crank out 7-10,000 words (rarely the latter, but it's been known to happen), and, upon reflection, I get so caught up in trying to tell the story that I stop paying attention to how I'm telling the story.
Don't get me wrong, the tale I tell is of paramount importance. The cool world, interesting sights (mental note: Need more of those), and world building all fall flat if the story isn't likewise intriguing and worthwhile. So I think that the story is perhaps one of the most important segments of what I'm doing. But when I get too carried away by the story, the fine details and control of the chapters get away from me. I find that my action scenes in particular (something that I'm already leery of, as I've discussed before) are boring and flat, with little to differentiate them and certainly lacking in awesomeness. I try to infuse as much creativity and reality and specificity as I can in each chapter. When I get swept up by the story, that's less likely--much less likely--to happen.
That's why I'm stopping now. My characters are all in dire situations, and I don't know where I'm going to go when I hit the keyboard again next week (Spring Break writing, perhaps?), as I don't know which character needs exploration next. But I have some time to ponder on it.
By the way, this month is National Poetry Month, and that makes me proud to have been born in the month of April. Likewise, my book is all about poetry as a magic system. Perhaps this is an omen that I'll finish the book this year in April. Then, because of all my earnest yearnings, I'll miraculously see the book released in April of 2013 to such raucous applause and adulation that I'll immediately be able to let my wife become a stay at home mom, we'll pay off the credit card, and my career as a writer will launch into the stratosphere.
It could happen.
Right?
Riiiiight. ;P
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