I love the Tuesday night tea thing. I didn’t get as much done tonight as I have on other nights — I was more social than I usually am. It wasn’t just that thought — I keep jumping ahead with this character. There are things that I want to say with him, that I want to do with him. Things that I know are going to happen to him, soon. I keep getting ahead of myself though. I started the next scene in the wrong place and had to start over. That’s one thing about this new process, writing out everything by hand — I am so comfortable throwing out that which needs to be thrown out, starting over, etc. If I’d typed it up, I would have tried to finesse the section, tried to make it fit. I do think that a lot of what I wrote tonight will eventually go into this character’s story. But just possibly not this chapter, or even the next. We’ll have to to see. It’s something that I have to build up to, not just leap into.
Other things, though, other things I’m leaping into and building up. I have no idea what they mean. It’s just that they’re necessary, and I need to add them now and what they mean exactly to the story will come clear in the fullness of time.
I really like that about writing too.
Ah, so the writing by hand thing is *new*! And here I’d thought you’d done your last four books holograph!
Either way, it was nice to look over and see someone scribbling on a pad with a fountain pen, with a big grin on her face. Very writerly … and that must have been a fun scene unfolding!
Yeah, the writing by hand thing is new. So is the writing without an outline thing. The first three books were all written with first draft on the computer, and heavily outlined. This last novel — first draft was written completely by hand, with no outline. I knew where I was going. I knew what that last scene had to be. I had no clue how to get there. I’m doing the same thing with the second — I know where I have to get to, but how I’m getting there is still a mystery. I wouldn’t have been able to write the first three books this way — they were historic fantasy, and I needed to do so much research. Plus, I wasn’t a good enough writer. Now, I know the structure of a novel, I know how to write, I can do it this way and have good results.
Ah, so the writing by hand thing is *new*! And here I’d thought you’d done your last four books holograph!
Either way, it was nice to look over and see someone scribbling on a pad with a fountain pen, with a big grin on her face. Very writerly … and that must have been a fun scene unfolding!
Yeah, the writing by hand thing is new. So is the writing without an outline thing. The first three books were all written with first draft on the computer, and heavily outlined. This last novel — first draft was written completely by hand, with no outline. I knew where I was going. I knew what that last scene had to be. I had no clue how to get there. I’m doing the same thing with the second — I know where I have to get to, but how I’m getting there is still a mystery. I wouldn’t have been able to write the first three books this way — they were historic fantasy, and I needed to do so much research. Plus, I wasn’t a good enough writer. Now, I know the structure of a novel, I know how to write, I can do it this way and have good results.
Plus you get to spend more quality time with your fountain pen this way! 🙂
Mmmm. Fountain pens. I *adore* my fountain pens. I have three that I regularly use at this stage of my writing process. A Nakomi vanishing point (it’s a fountain pen that retracts, like a ball point pen.) A pen that my eldest brother made for me when I was a teenager. I didn’t use it for a long while, not until I started writing novels. I actually wore out the nib and he had to replace it. I also have a very fancy Waterman Serenity pen. It’s the pen in this icon, actually. It’s black lacquer, slightly curved, like a katana. I call it my katana pen. I adore all three of my pens, and on a night like tonight, went through at least one full barrel of ink. These are the good days.
Plus you get to spend more quality time with your fountain pen this way! 🙂
Mmmm. Fountain pens. I *adore* my fountain pens. I have three that I regularly use at this stage of my writing process. A Nakomi vanishing point (it’s a fountain pen that retracts, like a ball point pen.) A pen that my eldest brother made for me when I was a teenager. I didn’t use it for a long while, not until I started writing novels. I actually wore out the nib and he had to replace it. I also have a very fancy Waterman Serenity pen. It’s the pen in this icon, actually. It’s black lacquer, slightly curved, like a katana. I call it my katana pen. I adore all three of my pens, and on a night like tonight, went through at least one full barrel of ink. These are the good days.