Numbers and things

Okay, it’s showing off. 30k in ten days. It’s taking two sessions a day, and commitment to updating the Ninny Rhino goal tracker (and I learned that the tracker has a stats page!) to see just how it’s going.

It may look impressive, but some of that is notes. I always do at least as much in notes as I do in story narrative. Sometimes, it’s a character interview (what a shock that can be, I tell you!), sometimes, it’s digging to find out something that may or will or definitely is important to get right. I don’t go too far because the need may not be there at the end of the first or second draft, but just in case.

Every eventuality must be considered.

Did it occur to me that I could do this – as in write a set number of words on a project – any time I wanted to? Of course. Do I do anything about it? No, of course not. The question is why/why not?

Just because I can, does it mean I should? Can’t I let it brew for a while, let it steep like a good cuppa? We have to do that. The good ideas can be better, and how do they get to be better or best?

By taking the time to consider if there might be more to the story.

Planner or pantser doesn’t get the best story, not one process or structure or method. The things that come up easy may be (as some have termed it) vomit, and in order to go beyond that stinky stuff, the idea has to sit there and go solid, or melt away, or find friends, or grow more.

Isn’t that a disgusting analogy?

Which is why I’ve always objected to the use of that word when trying to explain … the inexplicable. *sigh* I just don’t have the ability to create clarity for the actions (or lack thereof) needed to open a possibility, or to leave the door slightly ajar in a story to make more of it. Did that make sense to you? Nor me. Sorry. Where does it leave me?

Lost for words.

[pick your chin off the floor and stop laughing, thank you very much!]

And then comes the times like now. When I have to push through the ‘let’s think about it a bit more’ stage and get stuck into the ‘let’s get it done’ phase. It’s not the end, of course. There will be stuff to fix and add and delete, characters to knock into shape or smooth out, or kick off the block. Again. Or bring them back to do a job. Or …

Well, that’s for later, isn’t it?

This month, the challenge is to complete the first draft to the final, final, first draft stage – and I think I’m half-way there (I should say ‘we’ because the characters have a say, too, bugger ’em).

The end result of all this slogging away is the lack of attention given to the posts here … that’s life.

See you on the other side. I will do a quick post and update, but don’t hold your breath – I’m giving birth to a story! The one about the rookie spook and the dog … so here’s something for you to read in the meantime:

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