Wednesday, January 04, 2006

Wait, It's Wednesday Already?

I'm on autopilot. All I can think about is my project. I'm in the middle of Day 3. Conversations with me have been lasting less than 30 seconds because after that time expires, I go back to my own world where I'm writing in my head and working on several problems at once. Writing a book is like playing chess. You have to make correct decisions in the now, while thinking about several moves in the future. You are anticipating. Characters. Structure. Story line.

I cranked out 5K words today. It's at 13.5K total. I'm back on track after a half day on Monday. I'm hoping to pull an all nighter during of the upcoming nights and churn out 10K straight without any breaks. Those are mega-marathon writing sessions. I've done it once or twice before. Nothing feels better than knocking off over 15% of your project in one night.

I've been editing as I go along. That's slowed down my writing pace. Something I've never done in previous projects. It's been a positive experience thus far. I feel as though the first 10K words create a solid foundation. The rewrite is going to make them stronger. I have a solid base and that's the key to any successful book. The first 10K can't be shit. I've read enough books and written five already that I know the first 10K has to be some of your best work. I know what I wrote is some of my best stuff and I'm glad that I started over from scratch.

I surprised myself. I just opened up the creative value inside me and let it flow out onto a word document. I thought the book would end up being about one thing, and it started out on a different path. I heard that if you have a craving for a random food item, then you should usually go with it. I've been craving milk shakes a lot. Anyway, I set out to write about one thing and a different topic took over. It feels great. It's not as spontaneous as I thought. I had all these ideas inside me all along. It's just that they finally had the opportunity to bubble to the surface. I was worried that my project would lack diversity. Not anymore.

I asked Daddy to do a guest post over at my poker blog while I took a two week hiatus. He responded with one of the funniest things I ever read called The Bad Beat. You have to check it out. The comments are priceless as well. I hope he gets back to blogging soon.

I talked to BG for a bit today. He's out of the hospital and he's eager to get back to work. Stop by his blog and wish him well. I offer you up this kick ass link to make you feel better. Consider it my link of the day.

Recent Writing Music....
1. Phish
2. Velvet Underground
3. Peter Tosh
4. Charlie Hunter
5. Radiohead

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