Obviously I wasn't going to finish a novel this week. Finally a week off from work. I haven't had more than four days in a row this year, and most of those were because of being sick. So I really, really needed the rest.
I was making progress on the latest revision. Then had a jumble of thoughts come together and realized a solution to the problems I was having with Amelia's character, and it also solves a lot of other problems I was having.
But, oops, means those scenes are wrong again. Back again for yet another re-write.
Some writers claim to be merely recording. The few that have talked about it, they are tapping the same power that leads to confabulated memories. I'm pretty sure I do this, and this may be why there is a processing time. When I make a change to the world, it takes a day or two for me to start "remembering" the way things are now. When I do, I am practically dictating the scene from memory.
Well, sort of. What I have in my head is a gestalt of how the situation plays out within a small set of variations. I can tweak things, try out different options in the way the people in it act and react, and that model continues to fill in the sense of the reality of it that makes it easier for me to write it. The worst part for me is when I'm writing something I don't believe in yet. Whether because I haven't researched it enough or I'm not seeing it or I realize it wouldn't actually work in any real world.
But mostly because not enough time has passed for it to settle in. It is isn't all black box time, start the timer and wait for the ping. Because when the engine is chewing on the memory I'm created, I'm still bouncing off new connections and new inspirations. So I get bits of dialogue and insights into characters and additional details that will all make the scene better.
When I'm finally ready to write it.
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And given how Sometimes a Fox has been going, I'll be happy if I can just finish Chapter One by the end of this week off!
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