Day 20 – In the Air Tonight

First, I made my own YouTube playlist. This is what I’m listening too lately as I write… (you can click above)

I concentrated on “crafting” the words today rather than just throw them onto the paper. That worked for the first few paragraphs, but then I fell back into my regular writing rhythm. I must admit, I’m a little confused as to what I should do. Having a regular writing rhythm can’t be a bad thing per se. But if the writing is no good, then there’s no point.

On the other hand, if I spend more time trying to “craft” the words, I could trip myself up. In several ways, actually. I could get myself out of the groove that I’m enjoying right now. And, more importantly, each sentence or paragraph might be well-crafted on their own, but the pacing could be off when read altogether.

That’s the bottom line, isn’t it? Until I go back and read what I have so far, I won’t know how good it is. Besides the fact that I promised myself I wouldn’t go back, it would be useless to do so right now anyway — it’s still too fresh. There’s no way I could judge it objectively, even the original stuff I wrote almost three weeks ago.

“Throw, don’t think.” That was Kevin Costner’s advice to Tim Robbins in Bull Durham. Writing is certainly a lot different from baseball, but since I don’t have a catcher of my own, that advice is as good as any. Besides, I might go back and find that I was crafting the story all along…

Wow, I never expected these kinds of trials and tribulations! I mean, I expected some kind of angst: writer’s block, self-doubt, paralyzing fear from being overwhelmed. But to be so immersed in fashioning the style — that’s a surprise to me.

But I really do think it’s extremely important to get this down now, before I worry about anything else. Voice and style are the two most important things in any novel, I think. Plot — the storyline — could be anything. Characters are important, of course, as are themes. But voice is what holds it altogether — voice is the vehicle that delivers it all. You could have the most exquisite vase of roses in the world, but if the van breaks down, their just another bunch of dying flowers at the side of the road.

Voice is everything. My conundrum right now is how to find the best way to find that voice.

~Graham

(Novel Writing Totals)

Hours Today: 1
Words Today: 1,399
Hours Total: 20
Words Total: 29,038