Talking the Walk
I got up at about my usual time, between 4-4:30 in the morning, all ready to write. I didn’t have a very clear idea about what I wanted to do, but I have fallen for my two main characters and I want very very much to do them justice, give them witty things to say, and interesting challenges to overcome.
While this is probably the desire of most authors for their characters, it is not a particularly healthy approach to trying to write 50,000 words in 30 days. I took this photo around 8:30 in the morning when I took a break to take down Halloween decorations. I was planning my blog entry, something to do with the haunted house in which my creative spirit lies gasping.
Luckily, Hyrda stepped in with a reality check. We treated ourselves to a sushi lunch, roamed the aisles of Lowes considering projects for our winter vacation, and went to Barnes & Noble. I was just about ready to order a hot chocolate and settle down with copies of Lenswork and Writer’s Digest (there’s an article about structuring a novel, that I thought might just help), when Hydra came up with a package in hand, ready to go home.
I was cranky, but I knew any other course of action would just be putting off facing the inevitable truth that I’d spent about four hours to get about 600 words. Aiiiii.
Fought with the keyboard a while longer, and then Hydra and I went out for a dusk hike. These are particularly wonderful on an evening like last night, when the moon is up and almost full. I’d sworn I wasn’t going to tell anyone about the book until the end of the month, but Hydra has proven a VERY useful plot man in the past so on Day Four I found myself on the trail, talking. We’ve done this before when I’m stuck.
Wow. I told him who my characters were so far and what the main challenge is that they are coming up against, and he asked all the right questions. Like okay, how does she change? Okay, now how does he change? How does the experience make it happen? And he came up with a fabulous twist for the catalyst character. I mean, really fabulous.
The best thing about all this—besides having a built in writing coach in my house—I don’t even mind stealing his ideas because of California’s community property laws. If anything comes of my writing, he gets half and all he has to do is be brilliant every once in a while!
3 comments:
I had to laugh, I thought you meant any idea of his was automatically half yours. And I like the egg white idea, it might give it 'smoother' surface for printing.
Shu-Ju
An amusing muse?
It's great that he's there when you're really in a bind, SK.
maltiti
Yeah, and he's seen enough of my cranky that he doesn't go running off when I get that way about the writing. Lucky me!
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