So, let's try this one more time: after scrapping everything I previously wrote on the "secret project", I spent a week (while on a business trip in Sarasota) researching and just generally stewing over a new direction. And now I have to begin again. However, I'm horribly, horribly behind - so I've decided to do a "mini-Clarion" to the project. That is, I'm going to write as fast as I can, as much as I can, for the next week. I'm going to attempt to finish the entire thing by next Sunday.

I want to do this not just because I'm behind in my schedule, but because I think that this is going to force me to write without having the time to worry about perfection or editing as I go. That tends to slow me down and trip me up over things like single word choices, rather than pushing through to the end. I also think this is going to be a very difficult story for me to write, along the lines of what I went through while writing "The Unattainable". While IMO the writing of "The Unattainable" is some of the best I've ever done, it was one of the most stressful and emotionally disruptive things I've ever inflicted on myself. While I think it's good for writers to have a deep emotional connection to what they're creating, I also think that they need to have a good handle on their personal shit, and put the craft first. Trying to get through this in seven days will give me less time to wallow in my own crap, and force me to focus on the character's emotional journey. I can cry and wail when I write the end - just not before. ;D

So, starting tomorrow, I'll write like a madman possessed - just like I did at Clarion. I'll post word counts starting on Tuesday. Right now the word count is this:



Bleh. I've got a long ways to go....

Labels: horses, mini-clarion