Slugged through another 1000 words this morning. That's not a typo, I felt sluggish and clumsy. By mid-morning I had decided that the entire 1000 words would have to go: it was a scene that I was trying too hard to squeeze in as a transition, to make what came before make sense with what came afterward. It felt forced ... so out it comes!
This is the beauty of having two Word documents open simultaneously as I write, something I cribbed from Laini Taylor: the draft itself (version 1b, in this case) and a Working document where I dash off notes to myself, complaints, ideas, and -- now -- discarded scenes. It takes the pressure off finding an immediate home for those 1000 words, but gets them out of the way of the draft itself.
Too bad, though, a few sentences seemed to really sing. Maybe they'll reappear later!
Special Boatbuilding Note, Inserted for the Use of Schools: an electric blanket works much better than a work light for keeping things warm.
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2 comments:
Love the working doc! Though, I'm currently stuck in mine and unable to decide which of many bits and pieces will be glorified by the move to the actual doc. It's not feeling super productive.
Love the idea of naming years. I'll have to work on that. I couldn't be too kind, in retrospect, to 08; best to forget it and predict fanciful things for 09, but. . . my fancy must be m.i.a. right now -- I can't think of anything!
(PS -- my word verification is ALMOST "killers")
Hi Laini! What's fascinating to me about this working doc idea is that it's also ended up serving as a sort of writing journal, a meta-narrative about the book as I'm writing it. It will either be interesting or absurd to go back and read through it after this exploratory draft is done.
It's funny how often casual and typo-filled sentences in the working doc tend to trigger ideas and scenes for the real book. Each time I'm doubtful it'll work and each time I'm surprised. Hey, it works!
Maybe 2009 could be The Year of Potential.
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