THE DAY
So there are days like today when loss is gain: when you realize that you MUST kill words to make room for others and to nip and tuck. Days like this can be disheartening because you feel like an idiot; you’re writing bridging paragraphs and stuff like that; you’re slotting in snippets that need to be there to set up what comes next and killing crap that you thought was a good idea at the time.
But these days need to happen. Call it looping back or rewriting or redrafting . . . crap, just call it what it is, and that is the process of writing a novel. No novel comes out of anyone’s head like Athena from Zeus. No novel is an immaculate conception. Writing a novel is a nasty, brutal, exhausting, bloody business. You murders entire chapters and erase characters from existence at the stroke of a pen or press of a button. When I edit, I cut, and that means there is ALWAYS blood on the floor.
So it was a blood on the floor kind of day. Cut, slashed, took no prisoners, wrote bridging sequences…and then went for a swim. (Legs are KILLING me after strength training yesterday; it’s even hard to walk up and down the bloody stairs!)
OTOH, I know have a really interesting idea for my next book, which I am now researching. So that’s fun. In fact, I need to go back and keep reading after this.
WRITING OUT LOUD
Dark Side of the Moon
Day 1: 4326 Day 11: 2500 Day 21: 1800 Day 31: 745
Day 2: 2085 Day 12: 500 Day 22: 0 Day 32: 0
Day 3: 3011 Day 13: 1000 Day 23: 2700 Day 33: 4000
Day 4: 2652. Day 14: 3700 Day 24: 3500 Day 34: 2800
Day 5: 3210 Day 15: 5630 Day 25: 1500 Day 35: 4500
Day 6: 3450 Day 16: 1060 Day 26: 0 Day 36: 4800
Day 7: 0 Day 17: 130 Day 27: 0 Day 37: 0
Day 8: 2756 Day 18: 0 Day 28: 380 Day 38: 450
Day 9: 4580 Day 19: 3000 Day 29: 390 Day 39: 1000
Day 10: 2670 Day 20: 2600 Day 30: 380 Day 40: 2500
Day 41: 2600 Day 51: 1000 Day 63: 4800
*Day 42: 830 Day 52: 1600 Day 64: 3300
Day 43: 3600 Day 53: 2600 Day 65: 2500
Day 44: 5000 Day 54: 3600 Day 66: 1200 (edit day)
Day 45: 2600 Day 55: 3200
Day 46: 3000 Day 56: 4000
Day 47: 2800 Day 57: 1200
Day 48: 2500 Day 58-60: 0
Day 49: 1000 Day 61: 3500
Day 50: 4600 Day 62: 3000
Blog Post: 390
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What I’m Watching:
Nada. Swam.
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What I’m Reading:
Paperclip and Pentagon’s Brain. Now also starting a bio of von Braun by Neufeld (Dreamer of Space, Engineer of War) and Tommy Towery’s Growing Up in Rocket City, as well as innumerable articles.
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What I’m Listening to:
Rocket Boys by Homer Hickam. Yes. FINALLY. Listening to a book. I think I can do this one because it’s nonfiction.
