Getting into a routine is a good thing.
Today is Day 3 in Puerto Rico and Day 2 of writing.
I know it’s early in the transition from the States, but I can already tell
that Julie and I are going to love it here. We’ll eventually make it to the
beach (our dream condo has an ocean view), but our two-month rental is in the
mountains.
And it’s beautiful! We have some gorgeous views.
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| View from our rental home in the mountains near Orocovis. |
Taking in the scenery during our early morning walk is part of our new routine. The sun rises early here, so we’re up naturally at 6:30 or so. That’s still getting at least eight hours sleep since we pack it in by 10 each night. After an espresso, we take a walk at 7, come back and have a devotional time (reading through the Daily Morning Prayer: Rite Two in the Book of Common Prayer each day), have breakfast, shower, bow to the demands of Charlie the cat, and then we…get to it.
Today I realized I can do more than 500 words per
session. In the back of my mind, I knew I probably could, but didn’t want to be
too ambitious starting out. So this morning, I had two sessions at 500 words,
but the remaining four sessions I clocked 600 words each. My total for the day
was 3,400 words.
Very pleased. I added three chapters, so the story
is now at 7,600 words, from prolog through Chapter 5. I write short chapters.
(grin)
One of the strategies for getting 3,000 or more
words in each day is to just keep writing the next sentence. If I feel I’m
stuck, I just write one more sentence. Then the next one and then the next.
This usually gets me off dead center fairly quickly.
Then, during those short breaks while I exercise and
stretch, my mind runs through the story in the background (my subconscious brain
at work). When I sit back down to start the next section, I normally know where
the story is heading – at least for the next immediate section.
I don’t make a detailed outline before I begin a
story, but I do sort of outline as I go. I start off ‘writing into the dark’
(some call it ‘pantsing it’, that is, flying by the seat of one’s pants), and
then as the story slowly takes shape, I try to sketch out the upcoming scenes
so I kind of know the direction I’m heading.
That can change, however, and I usually let my
‘creative brain’ take over. I usually have no idea where the story is heading
early on, or how it will get resolved. For example, in today’s chapters, Mister
is explaining his plan on rescuing the captured cats. I still don’t know what
that plan is exactly, but I trust the process.
In fact, I think my subconscious left a clue in
Chapter 3. Spoiler Alert: Mister ‘frees’ Cienna from the burden of her special
ability. And I’m pretty sure this becomes the key to the scene leading up to
the final climax.
So tomorrow, as the story progresses, I’ll probably
sketch out a tentative ending. I think I’m a third of the way through the story
(thinking this will be a 20,000 word novella), so that’s about right for me. No
clue as to the full plot when I start out. Gain a bit of insight as I close in
on half-way. And then the last third write with an end-goal in mind.
That’s generally how it happens for me. But not
always. We’ll see tomorrow!
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| The view from the condo community we hope to live in! |
Today's Writing Tip...
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Lyndon Perry is a speculative fiction writer living in Puerto Rico. He's a former pastor and current husband, father, coffee drinker, and cat-wrangler to Charlie, a 19 year old orange and white tabby who serves as the inspiration to Mister the Magical Cat. You can find him a variety of places online. Check out his various Linktree Locations and say hello!
Awesome & inspiring! Love the writing and the word count! ❤️
ReplyDeleteThanks! It's keeping me honest! lol
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