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Nov. 3rd, 2005 12:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dr_pretentiousDespite a real-live emergency that necessitated ten hours of driving from Jersey to Maryland and back again, I stole time from my wonderful family and friends to write 776 terrible new words.
I'm now completely certain my opening chapter is off the rails. If it weren't Nanowrimo, I'd cut and paste the offending passages into a new Word document and then tuck it into the Half-Abandoned Bits file. As it is, I'll just be flagging them with [TO BE CUT] and [END CUT HERE] signposts, and an alternate opening will go into the same document. If, on 30 November, all I have to send for Nanowrimo's word count verification is 37 versions of the opening chapter, that's actually just fine. I have my eyes on a bigger prize than Nanowrimo.
In zero draft mind, I'm quite content to write ugly sentences, fatally flawed subplots, excessive exposition, etc., but if I know I'm lying to myself about who the characters are, that brings everything to a crashing halt. I can misunderstand the characters, but not misrepresent them.
To get back on track, I'm reverting to my old two-shift work rhythm: a late morning to early afternoon longhand shift, during which anything goes, and an evening writing shift to type up and refine the first shift's longhand stuff. I've tried skipping the longhand step and composing directly onto the laptop over the past couple of months, to see if it was any faster. Weirdly enough, it's not.
I'm now completely certain my opening chapter is off the rails. If it weren't Nanowrimo, I'd cut and paste the offending passages into a new Word document and then tuck it into the Half-Abandoned Bits file. As it is, I'll just be flagging them with [TO BE CUT] and [END CUT HERE] signposts, and an alternate opening will go into the same document. If, on 30 November, all I have to send for Nanowrimo's word count verification is 37 versions of the opening chapter, that's actually just fine. I have my eyes on a bigger prize than Nanowrimo.
In zero draft mind, I'm quite content to write ugly sentences, fatally flawed subplots, excessive exposition, etc., but if I know I'm lying to myself about who the characters are, that brings everything to a crashing halt. I can misunderstand the characters, but not misrepresent them.
To get back on track, I'm reverting to my old two-shift work rhythm: a late morning to early afternoon longhand shift, during which anything goes, and an evening writing shift to type up and refine the first shift's longhand stuff. I've tried skipping the longhand step and composing directly onto the laptop over the past couple of months, to see if it was any faster. Weirdly enough, it's not.
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Date: 2005-11-03 11:05 am (UTC)Wow. You're able to go back and look at what you wrote without seizing up. :::Impressed:::
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Date: 2005-11-03 07:44 pm (UTC)Oh, and that was me seizing up. I looked, and thought the chapter would Have To Be Fixed Immediately. Panic! Turns out, not so much, on further reflection.