New Scenes And Taking A Hike

One of the things I wanted to do in this edit is add in a couple of scenes that will help expand understanding of the characters' behaviour in certain situations. Sunday was a good day for that and I ended up writing quite a long scene which I hope, when I read it back, will be what I aimed for it to be.

I vary between writing longhand and writing directly on to the computer. There's no rhyme or reason to this, but often depends, not only on mood, but also just on circumstance. On Sunday, where I was meant that it was easier just to pull out my pad and pencil (never a pen!) and get scribbling. There is a benefit to this because, when I do type it up ready to be inserted into the main body of the novel, it gets an edit there too.

There is still another scene or two I want to add in. My plan is to type up the one I just wrote and work out where to put that, and then get on with the next one that I know I need to write. Doing it that way helps me keep on top of things and not have a tonne of pages floating about. Once the next one is done, I'll go through the whole thing again and see how I feel about it all then.

I tend to think about scenes and so on when I'm out on a walk - and now that the temperature has climbed down out of the 30s, I enjoyed a meander through the countryside yesterday, with the odd stop to pick blackberries. It's important to remember to get out and about when you can - it's good for the mind as well as the body. There are plenty of times I've worked out a scene during a walk that I've haven't been able to figure out all the time I was thinking about it inside.

Hope everyone else's writing is going well and I'd love to hear what you're working on. Feel free to leave a comment below!

Happy scribbling!

Editing - still!

As I mentioned previously, following the disappointment of having a publisher pull out of a contract on a self help book, I've turned back to novels and pulled out one that I wrote some time ago with the aim of doing some serious editing and rewriting.

Editing Pass One is now complete and I have more of an idea as to what needs to be changed and added in order to help make it a better piece. I've done some of this but there's still definitely plenty to go and sometimes it does feel a bit overwhelming and a case of 'I'm not even sure how to do all this!'. That's a bit scary and the confidence goes a bit wobbly and I have plenty of moments when I sit there and think 'What on Earth made me think I could do this?!'

But then I read this quote on Twitter:

'A writer should always feel like he’s in over his head'. ~Michael Cunningham

To be honest, it made me feel a lot better, and relieved a bit of that 'Is it just me?' worry. So whilst I may well be in over my head, that's not necessarily a bad thing.

In the meantime, I shall keep doing my best to bob to the surface for large gulps of air and then dive back in with my characters. With a bit of luck, we'll all get there in the end.

Do you ever feel like you're in over you head, and has there been a quote that's helped you along? I'd love to hear so feel free to leave a comment below!