Gotta Keep Going

The other day I wrote about a recent long writing session that got out of hand. I found myself zig-zagging from one plot point to another...and then to still another, with a few new things mixed in, and LOTS of dialogue. Without even rereading it, I knew I had a mess on my hands.

So, yesterday as I began my latest session, did I go back and fix everything that was wrong? Hell, no. I read the last sentence I wrote and just picked up from there. See, I have to keep moving! I've gotta get this thing done! There's no time to waste. Seriously, I can't worry about editing right now. As slow a writer as I am, a couple hours of writing doesn't get me far, and if I spend half that time reworking the narrative, I'm going to be stuck in the same spot forever.

The good news is, that manic writing session wasn't the norm. Yesterday I was much calmer and more deliberate. More good news ~ while I didn't reread anything except for that last sentence, I recalled most of what I'd spilled out and it's not that bad, plot-wise.  

I'm aware that my previous writing has problems, but part of that derived from not knowing where to take the story, so I did what I always do: write and write, hoping a lightbulb will eventually flicker on. And I think I managed to do that. I'm feeling much more confident, and what spurred that confidence was reintroducing a few of the supporting characters. I was in a rut; my main character was really only interacting with her cousin anymore, and that led to dullness. With a few other characters popping in, new possibilities opened up.  

While I constantly bemoan my overuse of dialogue, one thing I do well with it is create a specific voice for each character. No, everyone does not talk the same. I'm not talking accents, but word choice and manner. Yesterday, the MC's former boss showed up in town. He'd quit his job and had time on his hands, and somehow he ended up volunteering to produce MC's band's album. Coming from the professional world, he has a direct way of speaking; not unfriendly, per se, but "to the point". Whether MC knows it or not, she needs someone like that in her life. While she holds fast to her principles, she's constantly worrying about other people's feelings, and having someone advising her to be direct absolves her of her guilt. 

I also brought back a character who only appeared once in the first third of the story. In fact, he never physically appeared, but he showed up in some bad recollections. He's from another country and he'd heard MC's original band's music online and strangely became a super fan. He fancies himself as a "videographer" and came over to America, filmed some of the band's performances and stuck the videos online. Really, what he was was a pest. Those videos came back to haunt MC early in the story. (She hadn't divulged her previous status as a singer to her new love, and he broke up with her due to her dishonesty once those videos were unearthed.) Now this pesky character turns up again, this time for comic relief. It's really only a throwaway scene, but again, it allowed for a new voice to come into the frame. He speaks in a style which leaves out articles of speech, such as "a" and "the", and doesn't consistently use the correct verb tense. No, I didn't stereotype him; instead I used my ears, recalling the manner in which someone from his country actually speaks. Plus, he doesn't get many lines. He's only there to be an unwanted annoyance. It's little things like this that perk up my interest in a story. I try to always weave a "different" character into all my stories ~ not dangerously different, but quirky. 

Unlike a few days ago, I'm feeling good about what I've done. Most importantly, I'm energized again. I'm ready to keep going.