“Four minutes, seventeen seconds.”

[mugenmine]

Stuck: Day 3?-
Chapters: 1-5 (draft 2)
Total @13.7K

I started the edit today, well I started it yesterday, after holing up in a Starbucks and reading the first draft from end to end while not piking up a pen. Then I walked for an hour to think more on the draft. Then I edited a bit of chapter one. The draft as a whole is not bad, it's not very good either, it's kind of fair to middling. I feel secure in that the story is okay, but my telling of it is still lacking. And the start of it was not good.  So I've done some more scene shuffling, and realized that I have an entire scene to redraft. It's an important one so it can't suck. (I suppose the goal is for none of it to suck!)
So today was an attempt to rewrite the scene. It was also national channel my inner procrastination baby day as well. I didn't know it was a thing. My internal mantra was "Noooooooo, But I don't want to write anything!!!" All day, I said this. Not aloud, thankfully. Well not aloud in public. I might have said it a few times in my apartment..  Every time I sat down to write, other things magically happened... I started my taxes, texted a friend, made a mark gatiss gif, cooked lentils, found a Nero Wolfe novella to read for research, washed my hair, stared at tumblr and finally made 500 words. So painful!  But the thing is, I can't not write if it's just cause I feel like being a lazy person for the day. Mind you lazy is my usual resting state... But I just can't let it be an excuse for me. Because I'm currently at 50% of my entire output for 2013 and that kinda freaks me out.

I want to save my not writing days for things like, my back dies again like last year or I get the stomach flu or some reason more than I'm just not feeling it. But I think the big thing is that if I don't write I'll never finish the story, or it will take me one more day longer than I want. So I wrung out 500 really slow going and mediocre words, one by fucking one, and it was sucky... BUT the good thing is that the scene is now about 1/3rd done, and that's one-third less of a slog I have to deal with tomorrow. Not that this story is a true slog, it's just that I really want to have a draft that I don't have to completely rewrite anymore. I really want to be carving away, not still throwing clay.

Comments

[tenderly-wicked.livejournal.com]

Any chance to see your Mark Gatiss gif? :-) I'm doing very much the same at the moment, fiddling with more or less unimportant things instead of what I've been actually planning - finishing a novel I've started long ago and then abandoned (or at least considering if I can do it).

My only excuse is that I'm kind of perplexed - it seems that I'll have to cancel a trip to England in spring. I was looking forward to it, and now it turns out that my friend's not going :-( I can't decide if I should go alone - or not go at all... Which would be a pity.

[mugenmine.livejournal.com]

Lol I put the gif here:
http://mugenmine.tumblr.com/post/76245421943/mark-gatiss-malcom-mclaren-worried-about-the

it's kinda silly :-)

And wow, I didnt know you were writing a novel! Very cool! I've tried that a few times but it has never stuck.

And yay and oh no about your england trip... You can't not go, but that is crappy about your friend.

There's no way you'd have fun on your own? Or could you push it a little if your friend could go later?

I don't mind wandering about on my own, I did that mainly when I was there last, but it is fun to have a partner in crime. Do you know anyone over in the UK?

[tenderly-wicked.livejournal.com]

Oh, I write lots of stuff, mostly in Russian, and I don't always finish what I've started. This novel is half-written, so now and then I tell myself it's a shame to leave it like this :-)

I'm thinking of going to Somerset on my own - it's not that I know anyone in the UK personally, but the trip schedule won't let me get bored anyway, that's for sure :-) The only problem is that I'll have to re-plan everything - by now, there are no single rooms left in the hotels we've booked. Small towns, small hotels. So I'll have to look for some other places to stay. But maybe I'll still find something suitable.

As for Gatiss, he's charming :-)

[mugenmine.livejournal.com]

You might want to try AirBnB... I booked a place through them for 3 weeks in October. THey have single rooms and shares and all kind of stuff. They are a good alternative to the hotel route ;-) I looked and it seems they do have some options... not sure when your trip is, but yeah I've had good luck with them :-)

[tenderly-wicked.livejournal.com]

Thanks! It could be helpful. There's another possible option, I'm now thinking of going with my mother - I was planning to drag her abroad in autumn, so it's kind of a surprise for her :-) But I'll have to reschedule everything a bit anyway.

[mugenmine.livejournal.com]

That sounds like fun! I enjoy travelling with my mom, she's fun :-) I hope you can work it out and don't have to abandon your trip!