Switching Back to Writing by Hand

I spent part of this weekend cleaning out my desk and scavenging old notebooks for the transition to handwritten drafts. My computer now sits on a small collapsible table across the room, which means I literally have to turn my back on my writing to get online. This physical metaphor seems to be working since I didn't spend very much time on the internet this weekend once I reclaimed my desk for writing.

Right now it could just be the novelty of switching back to pen and paper that makes it feel so much more pleasant. I'm sure there will be action passages where it will drive me insane to be slowed down by pen and paper, not to mention the typing up phase and the lack of ctrl+f function. For now, it's still fun and I've noticed a decrease in eye strain already.

Despite living on a tight budget, I'm oddly happy that it costs me more than just electricity to write again; this may be a holdover from my days of playing resource management games. I'm setting aside money now for when the scavenged notebook hoard runs low. I half hope I run out of paper before back-to-school sales because that means I'm getting a lot done and I half hope I can hold out till then. (Because that means the $1 70-sheet notebooks will be marked down to $0.20 or less.)

This week I'll probably be absorbed with killing pens and winning notebooks, (which is what happens when you completely fill one) so I'll be on a partial internet break. I.e., if you don't see me for a while I'm still around, just writing. (NaNoMail or carrier pigeon would be the best ways to contact me if you need to.)

Chilling Out And Roughing It

This week has been exhausting. I'm declaring the rest of May do whatever you want as long as it's related to writing month instead of sticking with any one project.

I still have my nebulous goal of preparing for Camp NaNoWriMo, but that only involves reading some books on grammar and writing and figuring out what I want to write. Breaking that first chapter went well, but since that would technically be a second draft, (very technically given all the changes I made) I'd take it too seriously for a NaNoWriMo project. Right now I'm making a list of things I enjoy reading about, and I'll come up with a new story from there.

Also, I'll be roughing it by writing all of my Camp NaNoWriMo project with pencil and paper. For the rest of the month I'm going to try writing by hand more to smooth the transition. For some reason I lock up when I try writing on my netbook in public, (most likely because I'm preoccupied thinking about how I'll forget it somewhere or drop it while I'm out) so this should open up some new writing location possibilities.

Writing Exercise

By writing exercise I mean listening to grammar and writing podcasts and audio books while push reel mowing. I'll probably be doing this kind of writing exercise three to five days a week forty minutes a day until the grass finally gives up sometime late this fall.

While I was mowing yesterday, I thought of another writing exercise which I'll be starting later tonight. It's a first chapter challenge where I'll be taking my first chapters and breaking them in as many ways as I possibly can without them becoming ridiculous. Here are the notes I wrote on it:


Question everything! Do these events have to happen? Could something else be the catalyst of this story? Does the story need all of these characters? Does it have to take place in this particular location? Should you change the tone or perspective the story is told from? Could you change the genre?

So tonight is going to be a lot of fun, especially if I mess around with genres. I'm hoping one of the "broken" outlines I write will give me a story I can rewrite for Camp NaNoWriMo, so if you have no idea what you're doing yet, you may want to try this exercise yourself.

Draft Disbelief

It is really fun to write something over again.

...

It is really fun to write something over again.

Writing something more than once is surprisingly enjoyable. This could be because I was, and am, that kid who could watch a favorite movie or show over and over again, read a book until the cover falls off, or eat a favorite meal every day for a week. Of course, I like exploring and finding new things too, I just like to enjoy-enjoy them once found.

Yet somehow I always resist doing another draft. This makes no sense. I LOVE rewriting scenes, especially scenes from the start of the story. You can take everything you've learned about the characters and fold it into their characterizations early and add in foreshadowing for unplanned plot twists that came up later in the writing. And you can break things that bore you and take the story in a completely different direction! That's fantastic!

So, why, why, why, why, why do I think it's going to be a boring slog every single time? Technically, I know the reasons. It's going to take a long time. There's no guarantee this draft will work out. I could wind up making it worse. (<-That is a lie as long as I'm mentally and emotionally engaged in the writing.) I just want it to be done so I can finally give one of my books to someone to read. What if I can't make it work? Lots of tense, unpleasant emotions.

But the reality of it is utterly different. As is the case with so many other things in life, what I actually dislike is worrying, sulking, and complaining about the hazards of doing something and the probability of failure. When I can just write without all of the unnecessary noise in my head, there are few things in the world I enjoy more.

There's no resolution to this blog post yet because I'm still working through my draft dodging ways. And the only way to do that is to train myself by getting back to my drafts in progress now with a brighter, more relaxed attitude.

Three Day Edit Actual Wrap Up

Down friend perked up after a three mile walk around a lake then got a call to see The Avengers with her other (presumably not down) friends. So, I did get a little more work done on Syphon before midnight. (I also made some pancakes. Yum.) Onward to the bigger wrap up.

Day one was a day where I learned I am definitely still capable of laser-like focus. Even with the grocery shopping trip, I barely had a moment where I wasn't editing, researching, or doing things that had to be done that specific day. I was having fun going over the story, picking things apart, making cuts, and reoutlining, yet time actually seemed to slow while I was doing it. Usually my perception of time speeds up when I'm writing, so it would be delightful if that could become a regular thing.

Day Two started slow because after a night of sleep the doubts set in. Not about the deadline, which was mostly a way of keeping my butt in the chair and making this an event so it would be easier to decline invitations, but about the story. Changing the main character's gender to female wreaked havoc on two of the other characters, so I broke some more things, then broke them again until they were fixed. (This is also how I "repair" computers.)

By day three things were cozy again. Everyone had their genders, MC was (and is) working better female and slightly older than the original at the story's start and then I had a real life choice to make. Deadline and writing all day or go hang out with an extremely down friend. Bros before prose.

We walked around two home and furniture stores, split a soda because we're both broke, and read books in a Barnes and Noble. Then we came back for a snack (that's when I posted yesterday's post) and finished the day by talking while lake walking.

This is getting a bit long-winded, so I'll save the things I've been thinking over the past few hours about second and third drafting a story for a separate post.

The Three Day Edit Early Wrap Up

I'm wrapping up the three day edit early, at least as far as blog posting is concerned.

Did I completely finish? Nope. I doubt I could even if I had all the rest of today, but it's even more unlikely because I'd have to choose my arbitrary deadline over a down friend in order to do it. I'll work on it some more today if I can, but friends > deadlines.

I'll try to do a better wrap-up either late tonight or sometime tomorrow with what I learned. (And why I'm sure I'll do it again one day.)

The Short Vacation

This morning I wanted to quit the three day novel edit and go do something more productive, like frittering time away on the internet or playing mini-golf. Instead I took a short vacation from the project. (Four hours is too long to qualify as a break to me.)

What I decided to do instead of jumping ship was to break this book into three novelettes or novellas which could later be rejoined. My other option is to boil the whole story down into a novella. That would be interesting except it would probably take longer than one and a half days to pull it off. My "secret" third option is to make the whole thing a novelette. Don't tempt me, Brain; you know I would do it.

So the plan for the rest of the day is to go back to the outline and mix things around so that the first chapters are self-contained and satisfying as a story then get going on the new material. And none of that gets done by writing long blog posts so vacation over; back to work.