Thursday 3 October 2013

Ani's story...the beginning of a new WIP

Yesterday, I sat for two hours and wrote.

Non-stop.

On a new project that I think might actually have a lot going for it.

It's not unusual for me to write for that long in one stint, but the hours I spend 'writing' are more often than not spent tweaking and rewriting, so I end up overwriting and losing the spark that was there initially. I talked about that with respect to Rurik, recently.

This time, I decided to do things a bit differently.

I just let rip; let my - left brain or right brain? Can't remember - the twirly, creative half of the grey matter anyway, kick into gear. And I went with it. I found myself writing in snapshots of dialogue and scenes and emotions. I didn't bother checking up on what I've called a character - I just wrote 'sister' or cousin if I couldn't remember. If I couldn't 'see' how something would work in the plot just yet, I made a few notes, skipped it and moved on to the next piece of dialogue/action that got things moving again. 

It was like verbal diarrhoea, running from my brain directly into the keyboard; I could see all the nebulous thoughts I'd had about Ani's story solidifying and settling into the rough shape of what it will become. There's still a lot of work to do - I have no doubt of that. But I've started, and I'm not going to stop. 

Neither will I let myself look back over what I've written until I've got to the end of the 's****y first draft'.

Wish me luck. x

9 comments:

  1. Tickled pink that you're trying this approach. Yes, that's what my first draft felt like. What a rush! Great.

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  2. Tickled pink that you're trying this approach. Yes, that's what my first draft felt like. What a rush! Great.

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  3. Bit of an echo round here. Sorry!

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  4. Yay!! And isn't it marvellous when that happens!

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  5. I think you must have read Flicklimp's post! ha ha...

    Great for you... let it flow :) xx

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  6. Good for you! Keep the inspiration flowing and I'm sure that you will soon have a good compilation of notes to create your story, excited to hear :)

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  7. Yay! This is what I'm trying to do with my WIP and I've got about 7000 words done as a result. But now it's a bit scary because the other side of my brain keeps wittering on about character arc, 3-act structures, plot etc.etc. I'm going to have to perfect the ability to tell it to SHUT UP AND LET ME GET ON WITH IT! ;-) Good luck with yours :-)

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    1. You too, Mandy! I know what you mean about trying to keep the other half suppressed, but I think I'm getting better at switching on and off - I'm trying a 1K challenge via the terrible minds blog and wrote most of it off the cuff!

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