Flexibility. Sometimes I embody the word. Sometimes I fight it tooth and nail.
I’ve been pleasantly surprised to find I’m leaning more towards the first when it comes to my current Work In Progress, and am so grateful. See, I am working from a 58 page outline. Some scenes are sketched out in very specific detail, others just have basic information listed. But as I am following my outline, scene by scene, I’ve deviated here and there. Sometimes cutting whole scenes or conversations that are no longer necessary or don’t apply. Sometimes moving conversations and revelations up into my current scene or pushing them back for later.
This week in particular I was very flexible and enjoyed surprising results. It always amazes me–regardless of how often I hear others state the same thing–how organic the writing process truly is.
Onto this week’s stats:
Current Word Count: 29,180! Not as big a jump as I’d anticipated but I figured out a pretty important plot point. 🙂
Little Hints: Shuffleboard. My husband and I played it during our date night last weekend and it made its way into my story. And no, I’m not talking about the kind on the floor that you imagine elderly couples playing on cruise boats. I’m talking the table kind found at most bars near the pool tables. It’s a lot of fun–even if my husband kicks my butt at it most of the time!
Soundtrack Song of the Week: Jessie’s Girl by the Cast of Glee. I’ve always loved this song. In college, one of my favorite local bands, Spank the Monkey, did a cover that was awesome, but this Glee version is my favorite. It totally fits a particular character in my story and gives me a wonderful excuse to listen to it over and over again. (As always, email subscribers click through on the link to watch it on my blog since it doesn’t want to include itself in emails, grr)
Writing or Editing Trick Used This Week That Worked Particularly Well:
Letting the writing happen. I have a tendency to want to push things or feel guilty if I don’t meet a certain quota but by taking the time with the big scene I just completed, I was able to let ideas marinate and fit together much better than it would have, if I’d just rushed it.
Personal High: Dork Alert! As I mentioned before, my husband went to school with the guy who plays Damen on Vampire Diaries, and even though I worked at Entertainment Tonight and met many celebrities myself in person, just the knowledge that they knew each other makes me happy. Well I am not just a dork when it comes to television and movie celebrities. It turns out I am an even BIGGER Dork when it comes to authors! Last week, one of my favorite authors Lisa Schroeder commented on my blog (which as I stated in the comments section and on Facebook, prompted the Rachel Happy Dance). Then she started following me, which allows me to see her sweet face every time I log into my blog! I also got more involved with my Twitter account and have conversed with a few other authors back and forth, and can I just say it makes me positively giddy? See, total dork, right?
Personal Low: Not getting as much done as I would’ve liked with writing this week. I do think it worked for the best as I am much happier with the scene as a result, but I would’ve preferred to have gotten more done.
Writing Goal For the Coming Week: In light of what happened this past week, I think my goal this week will be for word count, not amount of scenes written. I think 1,000 words per writing day is doable, knowing I average about 4 days a week (sometimes more but I try to keep weekends for family). So next week’s goal is to have written 4,000 words.
Do you have a story soundtrack? If so, what is your favorite song this week? Any story goals for the week you’d like to share?
HAPPY WRITING!
