My creativity is up and down like a bride’s nightie.
This writing-intensive journey has taught me that I need time to think between scenes, to linger over a word choice, to tumble a phrase in my head until its jagged edges are as smooth when read out loud as they look on the paper. Without this ‘rumination’ time, I find that I’m constantly thinking about what a (written) mess I’ve left behind; it is very difficult for me to start another paragraph knowing that the previous one is only half done.
I’m this same way about my cooking. I have to have my kitchen clean – everything in its place, before I’ll start cooking! It sounds crazy but I have to have it orderly before I can make a new mess. Relating back to my writing, ‘everything its place’ is my outline. Even if I never use it or refer to it again, I know it’s there if I need it. I have to have each paragraph ‘clean’ before I’m able to move on to the next ‘mess’ (paragraph).
I drive myself crazy! Now that I’ve identified and accepted that particular idiosyncrasy, I’m hoping I can turn a blind eye to the mess of my novel and finish up this recipe for murder. However, I can’t tell you how badly I want to wipe down all of chapter seven and replace it with a brand new model.
Aaarrrrghhhh – too many mixed metaphors and excessive use of kitchen euphemisms. I’m not cooking today; I’m baking in the stew of a cluttered mind. No time to clean as I go – it’s back to “School of Hard Rocks.” I’ve got to whip up a couple thousand words today.
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"The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug." Mark Twain
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Li'l Sis: It's ONE WEEK today! Love and admiration to you.
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Writing is messy. That's the reality. Your need to keep everything clean and tidy becomes your inner editor, and that's what you have to kill. It still sometimes takes a conscious effort not to obsess over the right word or a smoothly flowing sentence, but I'm learnng to do it. Concentrate on the story and the characters. They're more important than the exact word.
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