July 30 word count: 5,030 words
Aug 1 word count: 881 words
Aug 4 word count: 1,593 words
NANTUCKET total word count: 98,210 words
The writing’s been going slowly. To be honest, I’ve been having trouble sitting down to write lately. I had an incredible day on July 30; over the course of two sessions at the computer, I wrote just a little over 5,000 words.
But scenes continue to give birth to new scenes, and since then I haven’t really felt that much closer to finishing.
If I had stuck to my original writing goal – 2,000 words a day – I’d be finished by now. But somehow, being so near to finishing has had the opposite effect on me.
This is so even though I know what I’m going to be working on next, and I’m actually quite excited about it.
It’s been a little eerie, too. I wrote an entire scene in my head a few days ago, and I was so certain I’d actually started putting down the words that when I started up my writing program today, I searched for the beginning of the scene that I was so sure I’d written. Searched in vain, of course, because I hadn’t written any of the scene at all. But the words had been there, and now I wish I’d just kept plugging away during that session and let those words come tumbling out. I wrote the scene today and it didn’t feel like it had nearly the same impact.
I also caught something that makes me wonder how many little mistakes might be lurking in the manuscript. My detective has been showing a morgue photo of one of the victims, an aggressive move to get certain people talking. However, part of the reason for showing a photo to begin with is for people to recognize the victim’s face – and there was the problem. The victim was disfigured beyond recognition. The result? The morgue photo’s not really usable for the identification purposes. I had to do a bit of scrambling to fix this.
Like I said, I did catch this one, but I do wonder how many more little discrepancies have crept in while I wasn’t looking…
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
This is in large part the reason I never finished anything! The end just keeps creeping a little further away. I’m sure you will do better though.
.-= Meghan´s last blog ..Review: A Hint of Wicked, Jennifer Haymore =-.
Hi — first time commenter, just found your blog! Endings are very tough…there’s (1) fear that it won’t live up stylistically to what came before, (2) worry that the conclusion won’t follow clearly from the clues you’ve provided (especially in mysteries and thrillers, but this is an issue in just about every work of fiction where there’s a plot twist), (3) slight depression over knowing that when the ending’s written, there might be editing and such, but the core of the creative process is over, and (4) anxiety over beginning the process of getting the little darling published. I went in circles for several months when I approached the end of my first book under these pressures, until I just gave myself a hard deadline for the end (and not just daily word quotas). It turned out that I didn’t actually need a whole pile of the junk I’d written while avoiding the ending, including a bunch of clunky exposition I’d added to ease the reader into the ending…but I didn’t see that until after it was done.
In any event, good luck, and remember — when this one’s done you can always write another one!
Thanks for sharing these writing experiences. I’m strictly a reader who finds it interesting that you would find an error with the photo. I guess better that you find it than a reader/blogger reviewing your story.
.-= Margot´s last blog ..Wondrous Words #26 =-.
It sounds like it’s still going well, great progress.
I’m drowning in tiny discrepancies right now. The challenge is that sometimes fixing one creates another! I’m glad you were able to fix it quickly. It sounds like you’re methodical enough that there won’t be too many.
I’m looking forward to your post that says: The End.
.-= Cathryn´s last blog ..Bad News / Good News =-.
You’re doing a fine job, I’d say.
And…maybe, in a first draft, there are no mistakes- or at least far fewer than you think. Maybe those discrepancies are your characters and your plot trying to push in a different direction, with the help of your subconscious.
.-= Mikeachim´s last blog ..Orkney: What Do You Do? =-.
Just don’t stop now and start looking for the discrepancies! Finish it first! Then you can go back and tweak it as necessary. Sometimes I think finishing a writing project is like finishing a really good book- you don’t want it to end so you start reading slower. You inspire me everyday though because I am way too scatterbrained to focus on writing right now. My grief counselor actually told me that this was because the grieving and all the changes has made my ADD go into overdrive. That is why I am having trouble focusing on reading or blogging or a movie or anything else. Makes sense. She suggested I wait a little while longer before adding something else to my plate. So I am living vicariously through you!
.-= Rebecca´s last blog ..The Wednesday Short Report =-.