Comments on: The Agony and the Excruciation.

By: Jessica Scott

Jessica Scott — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 06:26:33 +0000

Over here in Iraq, there are days when I just can’t find the time to sit down and write. But often I find when I am that busy, when I do finally sit, I get some serious mileage. That being said, I have a similar process. I usually crank out the first 30K words then come to a screeching halt. I go back and rework those first words and then hit another streak that pushes me through the second third of the book. But as I near the end, usually, I’m struggling word by word to finish. Finally, I’ll break out of the slump and crank out the end. But it’s painful. Then I let the little sucker sit. i don’t reread. Learning to let it sit was the hardest thing I think I had to learn but I get the most mileage out of it, too.
Oh and as far as life getting in the way, often I find the high drama in my life is just the right spark to put some serious words on page. I take my own emotion and pour it into my characters. Often, those pages end up with major revisions but it’s therapeutic to get it all out.
Great post!

By: londonmabel

londonmabel — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 05:26:39 +0000

I’ve been in the *agony* of finishing up a project, for so long, that I’m longing to start on the new one (which is sitting in my brain… waiting waiting.)

By: Donna Lea Simpson

Donna Lea Simpson — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 12:31:32 +0000

I love starting a new book… it’s like the first phase of a love affair, when you’re giddy and everything is sparkly and new and fun!

I usually hit a difficult spot about two-thirds of the way through.

By: Tracy Cooper-Posey

Tracy Cooper-Posey — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 19:24:05 +0000

Oh, I know that stage all too well!

I often wonder how some writers like writing the short books so much–they have to tackle that first stage all over again more often than the long book writers do. As for novella and short story writers…masochists!!

By: Susan Kelley

Susan Kelley — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 17:47:57 +0000

Sounds like lots of us are are the same page, I mean wrong page. I usually cut a lot of the beginning stuff out too. I love writing the start of a book but it is the slowest part. It’s always easier when it’s done to go back and fix it.

By: Terry Odell

Terry Odell — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:57:35 +0000

I know I’m going to cut the early chapters. I regard that as ‘revving the writing engine’. It’s also important because I’m getting to know my characters.

Heck, I even have a brief opening scene I’ve used and discarded with at least three manuscripts. It’s just a way of defeating the blank screen.

And since I know it’s all going to get cut or sliced and diced and trickled in later, I don’t worry that it has to be perfect.

By: Kimber Chin

Kimber Chin — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:19:28 +0000

Ahhh… maybe that’s why I always seem to start my stories a scene too early. I go back and cut this scene later. It is a wasted scene. I never knew before why I wrote it.

Maybe it is my way of wading into the story.