by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
The novel is going really well, but for one thing — I threw out the beginning AGAIN — and now I have to reimagine parts of it AGAIN so I have what I want: about 50 scenes in the first act.
This is when I need to distract myself. I have a little bit of slack in the process of development — like, 24 hours, so I think I’m going to read a lot now while I cogitate on how to think up some scenes that are original and not one of the many, many spare scenes I have floating around in my mind that I often plop into the plot as need be when I grow desperate.
But, as I said, things are getting better. A lot better. The biggest issue has been that since I’m working in a vacuum — and don’t have a wife or girlfriend to be my “reader” — that sometimes I have all these lead-up scenes that aren’t, really, needed. Then I cut them, the story gets stronger, but everything has, in a sense, been thrown up in the air and I have to account for the changes in the outline I have.
What happens at these points is I grow rather frazzled. The only way to chill out mentally is think about something, anything other than the novel for a few hours (or if it’s a weekend, a few days.)
But one interesting that is happening is I both find myself reluctant to talk about the novel as I grow more serious about it and I also find pretty much anything else but the novel pointless. If I have something to say, the novel gives me more than enough words to say it using subtext, if nothing else.
And, yet, out of habit and a need to let of some steam, I may do some extra writing on this blog for the next day or so. Or not. I don’t know. I really need to reflect on life — and the novel — some before I throw myself back into it tomorrow afternoon.
