Sunday, August 10, 2014

Spiral Bound

I have an admission to make. In this age of technology, when I have something hard to write or am blocked I...

Play around on Facebook
Play games
Read a book or ten...

And then I quite mucking around, and sit down to write. But when it's hard, when I'm stuck and just can't move on, after I do all those things I take a pad of paper and a pen and write it out by hand.

Currently, I'm working on something I've never done before: First Person POV Paranormal. That's not what got me stuck, tho... I couldn't bear what I was about to do. Just. Couldn't. Do. It.

I couldn't see the next part, and I desperately needed to. It was something that was new, unique to this world view. Also, I couldn't bear to put my character's in that much peril. When I finally stopped wasting time, I sat with pen and paper, and began to write it out.

This method works for me. Why? Partly because I feel more connected to it; the slide of my hand against the paper, the ink flowing as if from my fingertips. There's also the fact that scribbling out something that doesn't work, the hard slash of the pen, is so satisfying. Much more so than a delete key. Also, if you change your mind? Well, if you scratch it out just so you can still read what was there before. (I sometimes doodle on the edges until the idea shakes free, too.) It also lends itself to short bursts of time, which is what I normally have. Between the day job and the Princeling, some days I don't even boot up the computer. A notebook is much easier to deal with in 10-15 minute increments.

I just sprinted across the line on my current work in progress. I still need to get the handwritten notes put into the computer file. I still need to write the final scene... But it's doable at this point.

Fun Fact: Dragon's Champion was written entirely in a spiral bound notebook the first time around. I started with the character, and decided I had to see what the heck she was getting herself into :)

Until next time, my lovelies. Enjoy reading!


If your looking for some new reads, check out the Toil, Trouble and Temptation titles out by MMP now!

1 comment:

  1. Good for you! The pen is still mightier than the keyboard.

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