A documentation about writing the ultimate heist novel.
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I almost didn’t write today because I really wasn’t feeling it. It’s not that I think you should only write when you’re inspired, it’s that I feel like I’m all out of scenes.
I’ve got 48 down in my manuscript and pretty much everything I could think of. I just don’t want to write a bunch of krap that doesn’t help me with the plot that makes it harder to sort through in the editing process.
But then I thought. Some days I write 1,000 or 2,000 words and all I get is one line, one half a line that informs me how a character actually would think, or what they would actually do next. Sometimes I have to write 1,000 words to get one little hint.
I don’t think this is the greatest methodology. That’s why I’ve set a cut off at 40,000 words.
I’m worried there are now diminishing returns. I’ve got a huge hunk of clay and a lot of scenes that I can start to mold into something cohesive now. I’m not sure throwing more spaghetti at the wall is what’s needed.
I also remembered a good saying by some writer, I don’t remember who. The gist was she said there are some days she felt like the words were just flowing right out of her and other days every single one felt like an uphill struggle. But when she went back to read over what she had weeks or months later she couldn’t tell which writing came from which days.
So I just put down my 1,000. I’m at 28,500. If I just keep up then I’ll be done with my 1st draft by next Saturday. Now that I think about it, I’m very happy that I’m almost at 30K. I’ll stick this through.
The editing phase is going to be a monster.
Have some thoughts? Feel free to drop a comment or hit me up: charlie@charleskunken.com
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