Book #2

[scififanatic]

I've got a great critique group who both nurtures and challenges me to make my current manuscript the best it can be.

I was supposed to spend this morning finishing up the rough draft of chapter 5 but I found myself picking at chapter 3, trying to revise it into perfection. This is dangerous.

Sometimes, I find all kinds of ways to procrastinate: TV, cleaning, work, talking on the phone, complaining on LJ, surfing the Web, etc. This time, my procrastination came through obsessing over 2 paragraphs.

From about 9 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., I wrote 12 new sentences and edited these two paragraphs so much that I ended up with only 4 new sentences of material. That's 2 hours for 4 sentences! Shame on me.

Hopefully, I can stop scratching the itch to edit and just write write write my way through chapter 5. Then, maybe, I can spend the rest of Wednesday (no, wait--that's the Lakers game) or Thursday to edit as needed.

Still, those thoughts of Book #3 aren't far off. I finally received my copy of West Coast Jazz: Modern Jazz in California, 1945-1960 by Ted Gioia, which goes into detail about the history of Central Avenue (which I live off now--Central and 190th Street to be exact). What I've read so far has already given me an idea for the narrator I want to use for this Book #3. My MC (JTM) is actually a secondary character from Book #1, which I've abandoned for the moment.

*Sigh* So many books and stories, so little time.

Comments

[edithspage.livejournal.com]

Give yourself permission to write crap! The real secret to getting new pages. Or so I learned from Anne Lamont anyway. You read Bird by Bird?

[scififanatic.livejournal.com]

No but I need to read it. I think we've got it here at my job. Another book to add to my neverending reading list!

[edithspage.livejournal.com]

It's a great book to read sometime, but for now all you need to know is that she has a chapter titled "Shitty First Drafts." You have to allow yourself to write them. Tell yourself you aren't going to show it to anyone & just write. If you don't turn anything in for critique, so what. Tell us about how much you wrote on your shitty first draft. We'll pat you on the back & tell you to keep writing. It's the only way to get to a point where you can have a second draft.