My writing curse: a question about process
Every good super hero has a curse. Every great character has a flaw. I believe writers are no different. Every good writer has things there bad at. Even the incredibly talented are limited in some way. Perhaps this weakness forces them to nurture the strength but I think to be a writer of any kind you must be cursed in some way; compelled to set dreams to words and bring that dream to life for others to experience.
In my own case I’m suffering through a technical curse right now. Right now, in unable to edit my own writing unless I start at the beginning. For me to pick up where I left off I also like to start from the beginning but I’ve gotten better at starting with the chapter before. I am being handicapped though as my novel increase in length. This curse was not as crippling with plays or screenplays. They hardly ever exceed 120 pages (in my case anyway), and it’s formatted to read quickly. A page in my novel takes more than twice as long to get through as a page in my script. I also have another tragic flaw. I must read what I wrote aloud in order to hear it and keep me from reading through my own stuff too quickly. I gave myself two four hour blocks yesterday to write and I spent the first six catching myself up and only produced four good pages afterward. When I get an opportunity on Monday to pickup where I left off, will I have enough time to catch up to produce anything? I will try going back to the start of the chapter, but at some point I will need to back to the start and read out loud from the beginning and hopefully I will be excited to keep typing.
When I only have an hour or so to write I will write a part of my novel I’ve outlined but doesn’t pick up right where I left off and I will to incorporate it later. This is not always successful.
What are some quirks you have?
Interesting link here about a writer who pounded out 85k words in a weekend and what it means.
It takes twice as long and twice as much effort if I write in the evening. First thing in the morning is when I am in the flow…it’s all down hill from there.