Endo

It is frequently enjoyable to come to the end of a writing project. There are four, count them, four on the shelf. I have enjoyed all four. Now I have a problem. WHAT'S NEXT?

There are 18 ideas in my notebooks.  Which one? I have not fleshed out the basic, one page plot line for any of them. The one sentence idea is there.

My solution - I will take the one I relate to best and just start writing.  Somewhere along the path to the end I will find a beginning.

Go write, quit hanging out on the net.

Lovin' It.

Editing is rough, but all in all I have chopped over 20,000 words and inserted over 22,500. All for the better. The manuscript is coming together pretty dog gone great in my opinion.

With this edit I have learned to edit on screen, which will save me a bunch of printer ink and paper. VENGEANCE is edited on paper and still requires all those changes to be inserted in the computer file which is a long slow process. With my new skill that will not be necessary any more.

What's stopping you, get writing.

More than boring

Editing is more than boring. It is challenging which is why I keep at it. My left brain is so hot the hair is missing on that side of my head. Of course, I am bald so all my hair is mssing, but it was a cute way of getting your attention. Did it work?

Oh, the tough part. I had to chop three pages of garbled scene and rewrite the whole section. Twenty-two pages later, it looks and reads great. Hey, I can be my own critic, can't I?

Just printed out the end of my book, "Arizona". It will sit on the shelf until August and then the editing begins on that 90,000 word tome. By the time I fill in a couple of scenes I haven't written yet, it should be over 100,000 words of action packed, romance, comedy, drama, cowboys, indians, banditos, politicians, and other crooks. But I don't want to give the story away. No spoilers here, this time.

Okay, the phone is ringing, my dogs want out, the wind is blowing, mama's on her way home, the baby is crying (woops no baby here, what is that), and I need to run.

So, go write.

Writing vs. Editing

I love to write.

I hate to edit.

It's not that I don't wanna chop my precious words and sentences apart, but more like editing is work. Editing is left brain and writing, for me at least, is very right brain.  After serious examination I am not sure I have a left brain. People tell me I even walk leaning to the right, could that be due to the void on the left side if my head. My political views are to the right, even extreme in some areas and disciplines. (Of course only those on the right think correctly, does that mean that as a thinker I have some left brain no matter how small?

Editing is bad for your mental health.

So go write.

Life Gets in the Way

Life has really been getting in the way of this blog and the rest of my writing. I have tried doing a tight calendar, which just isn't me, setting an appointed time to write every day. Life gets in the way. I tried making myself do an hour on the keys before I could do the things I like and, you guessed it, life got in the way.

My style is pantser and binges. I write what the voices tell me and when they are talking many words hit the page. For an organizational style, I use piles. There was a time the cleaning lady wanted to do the carpet in my office. I was devastated. Took me a week to repile my piles in the proper sequence and place.

BUT, it hasn't been super bad. God allows me to assist small churches to make repairs and there's a lot of need there. He also gives me the urge to get outdoors and hike or whatever. A small hike last week about did me in. Beautiful country for the first day and on the second, we stumbled through cedar dotted grasslands on old two rut roads covered with round rocks and pot holes. Had to stop in order to look up at the scenery which wasn't worth stopping for. Went camping and fishing, wind blew, temperature dropped, wind came up, and caught no fish. Did get a couple chapters of self editing

AND, I have 76,000 words toward my latest book, ARIZONA. Just wrapping up the war, the uprising, and the extortion to come to the last page. Thinking of throwing out the extortion and using it for a followup book using same characters, except for the dead ones of course. I'll lose over 20,000 words on this book if I do, but then again, the book needs more showing and less telling anyhow. Showing takes more words than telling, so that will balance out.

Blessing, and keep writing.