A 2-day Chapter
I have a writing routine. It’s been so screwed up lately, I cling to the idea I have one. But life happens. My sister takes care of my cousin with cerebral palsy, and Jenny’s health has gone awry. I try to help my sister, but there are so many issues lately, I mostly get phone calls of my sister crying, not sure how to help Jenny through all of the new crises.
Between phone calls and going over to sit with Jenny so my sister can leave the house, I’ve been writing. And I’m making progress, but boy, is it slow. I’m past half of the first draft of my straight mystery. I started it as Volunteering For Trouble, but that sounds too much like a cozy, so now I’m calling it Posed In Death, and I hope that sticks. But who knows? I’ve been trying to write one chapter on it a day, but if I get too many calls in one day, things get shaky. BUT, I hit a big turning point chapter, and I had enough time to get it right, so I wrote it. But, I know myself, and I knew it would need a lot more work the second day.
Thank God for second days and rewrites. Writing emotional scenes is hard for me. I’m not a truly emotional person. I’m more goal oriented. I know–just like my books. Gwen Plano over at Story Empire wrote a fascinating blog today about how you can get to know an author by what he/she writes. Accompanying the Writer | Story Empire (wordpress.com) I’m not sure what my writing says about me, but it’s an interesting read.
Anyway, in my story I reached a turning point between Laurel and Nick. They’re both widows, and they’re both lonelier than they realized. So I wrote the scene in one day, and when I looked at it the next day, it took me the ENTIRE day to fill in all of the things I didn’t say. I have friends who fly through emotions in scenes. I can’t do it. One of my friends analyzed handwriting, even did court cases, and she told me to open my a’s and o’s because I close them up, showing that I hold in my emotions. I’ve tried. Believe me, I’ve REALLY tried, but my a’s and o’s are still closed once I don’t focus on them. A bummer. But after listening to Ann, I KNOW that I’m not going to get emotional scenes right the first time I write them.
You learn things about yourself as you write–your strengths and weaknesses. And that’s a good thing. I know I’m good at plotting. I’m practical. I like the cause and effect. I’m not so good at expressing my emotions, but I can eventually get there, if I keep trying. I love analyzing characters, figuring out what drives them, and I’m ferociously loyal–whether that’s a good thing or a bad. And I love nurturing people. My Jazzi series probably shows that. Moe than I realized before I read Gwen’s blog. I’m not sure what my paranormal fiction says about me, but maybe that’s a good thing:).
What do you think? Can you understand the author by what he or she writes? If you read Gwen’s blog, what’s your reaction?
