So yeah, I've been working on that book I told you about earlier, the one that's at 35,186 words?
Yeah, It's not at 35,186 words anymore. After about eight hours of going over it again and again, trying to figure out what happens next and making a few small corrections and changes here and there, I've managed to somehow lose over a thousand words.
Yes, I've made the opening chapters tighter. Yes, I've gotten rid of a lot of blatheration. BUT THAT ISN'T WHAT I'M SUPPOSED TO BE DOING RIGHT NOW. I'm supposed to be advancing the plot (and incidentally the word count).
I just. can't. stop myself.
Suggestions, oh ye writerly types?
An adventure is, by nature, a thing that comes to us. It is a thing that chooses us, not a thing that we choose. ~G.K. Chesterton
5 comments:
Ummm... haha. I am not sure what to tell you. STOP GOING BACK!! Perhaps you can rig up some sort of boxing glove on a spring so it can knock you in the head every time you go back to your previous files. I think editing.. or even re-reading while writing.. is a cursed act. Last night I re-read my last chapter of my WIP to refresh my memory of what was going on, and I only got in like 900 words last night! I lost that writin' feeling because of it! EeeK!
Step out of editing mode. No more reading your story. Open a new file for the next chapter if you need to. Someone once suggested making the first draft (ie what you've already written) font invisible, white on white. Which I thought was cool. Never tried it though.
You can always skip forward a scene or two to the next bit you're looking forward to writing. Once you've finished the draft, it's not hard to smooth out the break.
Unless it's a BIG mistake I need to fix, I don't let myself edit until it's done. It's hard sometimes, but much less of a headache!
Thanks, guys. I may have to work on it physically separated from the written chapters. it's like a compulsion to go back and tweak...
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