Looking for the hammer
[If you've been meaning to check out the Soul Screamers series, there's an interview and a My Soul To Take giveaway here.]
I've run in to a problem with the new adult novel I'm working on. It's a plot problem #1 calls the "find a hammer" problem. And here's why...
Several years ago, when I was writing Stray, #1 had time to read everything I wrote, and when he got to the scene in Stray where Faythe was looking for the key to the lock on Abby's cage, he set down the manuscript (that was back when I used to print them) and said, "Why would she waste so much time looking for a key when she could just bust the lock off with a hammer?"
Basically, he was saying that I'd made the solution more complicated than it needed to be. Why spend 3000 words of the novel looking for a key, when I could spend about a hundred looking for a hammer.
Unfortunately, in that instance, the activity (looking for a key) was, in part, something for Faythe to be doing while she had an important phone conversation. I couldn't get rid of the phone call, so I altered it so that she was looking for a key--or preferably a hammer.
Well, this time, when I replace the search for a key with the simpler search for a (metaphorical) hammer, I wind up losing the introduction to an important character. A character we're going to need to have met before her purpose in the story becomes obvious.
Which means I now have to find a new way to introduce this character. And until I do that, evidently, the words won't flow well.
Grrr...
So, here's where the book stands so far:
47,970 / 100,000
(47.97%)
And here's my progress toward my November goal of 65,000 words.
31,570 / 65,000
(48.57%)
As you can see, I'm less than halfway there, even though the month is more than halfway over, and I'll have to take several days off for Thanksgiving and my family's holiday get-together. And no, I can't do much work in the car. Stupid motion sickness...
So, hopefully I'll be able to figure this hammer mess out this afternoon and make up for some wordcount loss tonight. Wish me luck!
Also, check out my CP Rinda Elliott's progress on her November goal below:
I've run in to a problem with the new adult novel I'm working on. It's a plot problem #1 calls the "find a hammer" problem. And here's why...
Several years ago, when I was writing Stray, #1 had time to read everything I wrote, and when he got to the scene in Stray where Faythe was looking for the key to the lock on Abby's cage, he set down the manuscript (that was back when I used to print them) and said, "Why would she waste so much time looking for a key when she could just bust the lock off with a hammer?"
Basically, he was saying that I'd made the solution more complicated than it needed to be. Why spend 3000 words of the novel looking for a key, when I could spend about a hundred looking for a hammer.
Unfortunately, in that instance, the activity (looking for a key) was, in part, something for Faythe to be doing while she had an important phone conversation. I couldn't get rid of the phone call, so I altered it so that she was looking for a key--or preferably a hammer.
Well, this time, when I replace the search for a key with the simpler search for a (metaphorical) hammer, I wind up losing the introduction to an important character. A character we're going to need to have met before her purpose in the story becomes obvious.
Which means I now have to find a new way to introduce this character. And until I do that, evidently, the words won't flow well.
Grrr...
So, here's where the book stands so far:
47,970 / 100,000
(47.97%)
And here's my progress toward my November goal of 65,000 words.
31,570 / 65,000
(48.57%)
As you can see, I'm less than halfway there, even though the month is more than halfway over, and I'll have to take several days off for Thanksgiving and my family's holiday get-together. And no, I can't do much work in the car. Stupid motion sickness...
So, hopefully I'll be able to figure this hammer mess out this afternoon and make up for some wordcount loss tonight. Wish me luck!
Also, check out my CP Rinda Elliott's progress on her November goal below:
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message 1:
by
Liliana
(new)
Nov 16, 2010 04:04PM
Oooh thats not fun... but good luck! :)
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You can do it Rachel! Can't wait to read it when its finished =)
we all have faith that you will figure out a way to get this character introduced. He or she will just have to stumble in some other way than you expected. good luck sweety
