I have not written a single word on my novel in almost six months.
There. I said it.
Slacker! Heretic! Apathetic Boob!
Perhaps.
But then again, there are important things that keep me from my time with my keyboard. Family, work, and living my life are my biggest priorities. Yet, now, when the holidays are done and things are quiet at work before the Spring thaw, I have time. Time to turn to my story and pick up where I left off.
And I balk. So much time has passed, I don't know where to begin. Where was I going with this? What is wrong with this character? What the hell was I thinking?
How do I start over again?
I'm certain I am not alone in this. What does one do when it has been such a long time since last pen met paper? For me, I have a few rituals and routines that I go through to get the story going again. I start by re-reading what I had written to date.
Every bit of it.
If I am lucky, I like what I've written. I'll smile and nod, thinking that perhaps I'm not half bad at this after all. But what if I'm not lucky? What if I read it all and I think it's crap?
Despair.
Yet, it's not a total loss. In this case, I just start editing. Slash and burn! Red pen of death for everyone! Delete! Delete! Delete! Even correcting the horrors that past me had brought onto the paper (with me, it might actually be paper half the time), starts me thinking of the story. Yes, this bit is awful. Why? Well, change it then? To what? Google "plaid pajamas" and "goat skin boots" and see what tartan patterns we can use. No? Well, of course not. That's just silly.
The dreaded blank piece of paper with that cursed blinking cursor can be even be useful. All you have to do is just start typing. It can be complete drivel (at first), but then that's what the "delete" key is for, isn't it? One letter after another. One sentence after another.
That's how I do it.
No comments:
Post a Comment