Day Nine - It finally happened. The thing I fear most when I'm writing. It can happen anywhere along the way from crappy first draft to final revisions... I was hit by a big fat week Two case of the I SUCK!
Admittedly I haven't been thrilled over the novel I am currently attempting. I know I'm padding words here and there. Okay, everywhere. I'm pretty sure I have a lot of talking heads taking up the space where setting and emotion and nuance belong but it still didn't hit me till last night when I made the mistake of picking up an old Dennis Lehane novel. OMG! the man is a master and I would throw myself at his feet if I thought it would help my writing. This revelation sent me scrambling to my bookshelf. Sure enough, every book I picked up from Stephen King to Sue Grafton was amazing! I will never ever be able to create the intense and beautiful prose of those people. I couldn't stop the' I suck' thoughts from invading my brain... What do I think I'm doing? Who do I think I'm fooling? But after an hour of self-pity, I went back to reread my work in progress and you know what? It isn't half bad after all! This week is all about putting words on the page, pushing the skeleton of the story forward and realizing all that beautiful character development and setting description can wait till you know what your story is truly all about.
Admittedly I haven't been thrilled over the novel I am currently attempting. I know I'm padding words here and there. Okay, everywhere. I'm pretty sure I have a lot of talking heads taking up the space where setting and emotion and nuance belong but it still didn't hit me till last night when I made the mistake of picking up an old Dennis Lehane novel. OMG! the man is a master and I would throw myself at his feet if I thought it would help my writing. This revelation sent me scrambling to my bookshelf. Sure enough, every book I picked up from Stephen King to Sue Grafton was amazing! I will never ever be able to create the intense and beautiful prose of those people. I couldn't stop the' I suck' thoughts from invading my brain... What do I think I'm doing? Who do I think I'm fooling? But after an hour of self-pity, I went back to reread my work in progress and you know what? It isn't half bad after all! This week is all about putting words on the page, pushing the skeleton of the story forward and realizing all that beautiful character development and setting description can wait till you know what your story is truly all about.
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