May 3, 2010
Can’t Blog, Writing!
I know, I know, it’s been a while. I’ve been a bad blogger, but on the upside I’ve been writing like crazy. Yay! It always goes so much smoother when I let the characters tell the story instead of forcing them to do what I want to move the plot forward. In fact, I’ve learned two very important things while working on this novel.
The first, never underestimate the importance of chemistry. This is not my first stab at this story . I had actually written a few chapters some months back. While the hero and heroine were okay together–they didn’t seem to genuinely hate each other or anything–but there was no spark between them. I kept hoping that as I dug deeper into the story, they would gel, that the chemistry would appear. Then I wrote a scene where the hero was interacting with a potential suspect and the chemistry between those two was smokin’. I had no choice. I was forced to tweak a few things and introduce a new hero. What a difference. Incidentally, that first hero and potential suspect will likely be getting a book of their own. 
The second lesson, the power of momentum. Though, to be fair this was a lesson I already knew. Maybe to say that I was reminded of that particular truth while working on this book would be more accurate. A common piece of writing advice is to write every day. This isn’t just as a means of upping your word count and finishing faster, though, writing every day will do that too. But writing every day keeps your momentum going forward, keeps your head in the story, let’s you stay connected to your characters. When I stop writing for more than a day, it’s harder to dig back into the story and find my way back into my characters’ heads. Also, taking too much time away from a story gives self-doubt the chance to creep in and rear its ugly head, which can either stall your progress or halt it all together.
So that’s where I’ve been the past couple of weeks. I’m trying to get back to blogging three days a week again, but if I miss a day, you’ll know it’s because I’m writing.
Mood: Busy
Music: Karma Police, Radiohead
RSS feed for comments on this post.
The URI to TrackBack this entry is:
http://dawnbrown.org/blog/2010/05/03/cant-blog-writing/trackback/
Great advice. Wish I could take it, but for now, I’ll write when I can. Miss ya.
Lynnette Labelle
May 3rd, 2010 at 7:43 pmhttp://lynnettelabelle.blogspot.com
It’s tougher when your kids are small. Miss ya too!
May 5th, 2010 at 4:32 pmNext year, they’re in kindergarten every second day, full days. Yoopie! I know, bad mom. But good for the writer in me. LOL
Lynnette Labelle
May 5th, 2010 at 4:59 pmhttp://lynnettelabelle.blogspot.com