Writing Binge
It started innocently. I haven't flexed my writing muscles in a while and had a free evening, so I decided to do something I haven't done in a while - a freeform writing session. The idea is simple: You sit down, without any story or concept laid out ahead of time, crack your knuckles, and then you just start writing to see what comes out. It keeps the gears from getting rusty and it's just a fun thing to try, if only to see the weird stuff your subconscious comes up with.
Well, I started with a really odd statement and the prose that followed just became stranger and stranger, but an antihero protagonist started to develop from amidst the weirdness. By the time I finished, the story took a completely different twist and as I sat back and looked at what I had just written, I was blindsided by an entire story idea that I've been obsessively working on ever since. Four chapters (short ones) and 12,000 words later... I have what might be the beginning of a new book in the works. There's just one problem...
... I'm up to my eyeballs in work that has to be done this week, with no motivation to work on anything other than this story. Arg! I get like this sometimes, where I enter the writing haze and lose track of two or three days (sometimes as many as four) while I whip out a story idea that I have to get out right now. Giving in and getting it written usually draws it out of my system, but I'm nowhere near done getting it exorcised and I'm about to lose Day Two of this week.
On the plus side, I'm getting to mess around in an entirely different genre: horror. I've wanted to write a vampire tale for sometime now and it's a small breather from the Shadow Fox stuff (Don't worry, Scott, I'm not ditching you!) but it's a LOT darker than the stuff I typically write, which is what makes this even stranger. If I get to finish writing this one, it will eventually come around to the theme of redemption. I'm a sucker for that and not easily given over to the nihilistic, Frank Miller way of things. But still, I fear that if/when I release this one, ya'll are gonna think me especially messed up.
If you stone me, please be gentle. ;-)
Back to ditching responsibility for one final day before I hit crunch mode tomorrow and work my tailfeathers off on the comic.
Jules <><
Currently Listening to: "Forget It" by Breaking Benjamin
Well, I started with a really odd statement and the prose that followed just became stranger and stranger, but an antihero protagonist started to develop from amidst the weirdness. By the time I finished, the story took a completely different twist and as I sat back and looked at what I had just written, I was blindsided by an entire story idea that I've been obsessively working on ever since. Four chapters (short ones) and 12,000 words later... I have what might be the beginning of a new book in the works. There's just one problem...
... I'm up to my eyeballs in work that has to be done this week, with no motivation to work on anything other than this story. Arg! I get like this sometimes, where I enter the writing haze and lose track of two or three days (sometimes as many as four) while I whip out a story idea that I have to get out right now. Giving in and getting it written usually draws it out of my system, but I'm nowhere near done getting it exorcised and I'm about to lose Day Two of this week.
On the plus side, I'm getting to mess around in an entirely different genre: horror. I've wanted to write a vampire tale for sometime now and it's a small breather from the Shadow Fox stuff (Don't worry, Scott, I'm not ditching you!) but it's a LOT darker than the stuff I typically write, which is what makes this even stranger. If I get to finish writing this one, it will eventually come around to the theme of redemption. I'm a sucker for that and not easily given over to the nihilistic, Frank Miller way of things. But still, I fear that if/when I release this one, ya'll are gonna think me especially messed up.
If you stone me, please be gentle. ;-)
Back to ditching responsibility for one final day before I hit crunch mode tomorrow and work my tailfeathers off on the comic.
Jules <><
Currently Listening to: "Forget It" by Breaking Benjamin
posted by SpideyGeek at 1:00 PM
6 Comments:
Hmmm....
3,000 word chapters are short, eh?
*CalvinDude points out that his chapters are often under 1,000 words.....*
For this, I blame Bush.
For me they are. I usually have 10,000 word chapters with about two or three scene breaks in each one. These chapters have all been one or, at the most, two scene chapters.
btw, 14,100 words and five chapters now. And I think my brain has officially shut down for the day.
*drools on herself*
*blames Bush for causing her brain to shut down*
Hey Spideygeek, not sure if you remember "AB" from #pros. I was on Rusty's (aka Casey) blog and, being rather bored, began clicking links.
Take care!
AB! Dude, how could I forget ya?
How you is?
Spy(D)G^K,
'Tis always kewl to see how other writers work :-) My latest project, which due to my moving etc. has not been worked on for about a month now :-(, is roughly the size of two of your chapters.
It's 23 of my chapters.
Soo......
I think Ghost Shadows has my longest chapters, probably being about 2500 words. The first draft of The Outlaw was 89 chapters and was 83,000 words. (The final draft added a bunch more chapters, and the final word count was about 93k, but I didn't add the chapters back up to see what I've got there!) Public Transit I think was around 20 chapters and it's only just barely over 40,000 words (counting my author's note even!).
Of course, my chapters tend not to have "scene breaks" (I wonder why...).
Oh, BTW, I'm trying to get the Internet up at my new house, so you can warn all the dudes in #pros that THAR DAYZ R NUMBAD!!!!11!!
:-)
I'm alright SG. Livin' it up in good ole Iraq! Weather is nice (not) and the people even nicer (not-not.)
You?
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