Sometimes you change your process

[ksmith]

...and sometimes your process changes, and I have no clue whether that is what is going on here or not.

I've always been a linear writer. I wrote scenes in order, beginning to middle to end. Wrote the book in order, beginning to middle to end. I had tried more than once to write scenes out of order as a way to jumpstart the daily output, or because a scene begged to be written and I didn't have the patience to write the intervening stuff before giving in to the fun. That material, for the most part, did not make it into the final book. It didn't even make it into the draft, because when I went back and wrote the stuff leading up to it, things veered from target sufficiently that the out-of-order scenes didn't fit and couldn't be made to fit with what the work had become.

So what am I doing now? I'm currently writing a scene that takes place during the last third of the book. I swear, I don't see how the book as it is planned could do without this scene--I found some interesting info about death by pressing (not a way to go) that just fits the character involved, so I'm working out the scene. After that, I will work out another pivotal scene, then another and another, until I have this array of beads that will be (hopehopehope) ready for stringing.

I'll see how far this takes me. For the time being, I'm looking at is as writing-as-painting. Instead of perfecting one portion of the canvas before moving to the next, I'm sketching the scene entire. Then I'll move to washes of color. Then the details will be filled in, more and more and more. Until it's done, or I run out of green.

8398 words so far, during this 70 days of not-yet-breaking-a-sweat. Not where I thought I'd be when I started this exercise. I think I'm going to avoid mizkit's and cmpriest's running talleys for the duration, because they have written more in the first three and a half months of the year than I usually write in nine or ten. Figuring 225 words/page, I have written about 37 pages. I pumped that out in one day during the writing of ENDGAME, but iirc I had entered the panic zone. I'm not panicked yet, though I am worried. I keep telling myself that sometime in September, I will ponder selling my soul to get April back. That's the hook under my skin that I need to feel now. But baseball's begun and the Cubs are starting out well. I'm seeing daylight where the basement is concerned. I need to get those tomato seeds started. Wiscon is next month, and I'm already looking forward to it.

On the other hand, plot matters seem to be moving along. So, we'll see.

Comments

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

With the usual caveats about different processes, etc, I've found that a big multi layered thing seems to require working all over the place, going back and forth a lot.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

There's mystery to set up, so it may be good to see where I want to end up so I know how to arrange matters.

I foresee a lot of back-and-forth. I'll see how it goes.