Holding Patterns

Spent most of the day struggling to put things together. The problem with trying to write daily like this, not each day’s writing fits with the previous day’s. I’ve been trying to organise the sequence and trying to get them to marry together.

It’s a frustrating, but necessary experience. As a result, an exact wordcount is… difficult to ascertain. (Book is now spreading across multiple documents, I spread like an octopus, maximise surfrace area, viral, infect, maintain) it’s about 11,000 words. I think.

On a positive note, I have decided on a quote for the first page.

It’s the little important things you know…

I am back from a week spent in a converted Kent lighthouse.

Observations;

• Kent is full of bugs.
• Reading is good for writing.
• Productivity is not always measured in wordcounts.

Over the week I wrote; about three or four thousand words, started an entirely new book (yes, I am a glutton for punishment). But by far most importantly, I think I’m starting to get to grips with how to structure this strange octupus of a story I want to tell.

I am not a technical writer.

However, when you want to tell a story you can’t just close your eyes, sit in front of a keyboard (typewriter/pen) shout “aaaahhh” and expect the story to come out. Technical issues get in the ways, things of tense and perspective. Who to tell the story? In which way? To narrate? To not? Present tense? Past tense? etc. Different methods and different voices suit different tales and different tellers.

I’d previous been putting  these decisions off, but a number have become clear this week. Partially through writing. Partially through reading. Partially through thinking.

All three are good things to do. I reccomend them if you are planning your own novel.

Monday brings renewed work, with more of a sense of direction. A lot less bugs also.

Thank god.