Day 7 – Sign o’ the Times

It’s now officially been a week, and I must say I am very, very happy with my progress (extra “very” added for dramatic effect). I passed 10,000 words today, which I think is a huge accomplishment. And my literary “voice” cracked today, giving me a whole new sound that I’m excited about.

I was saying to Noël (my wife, for those who don’t know) that I am eminently confident with my marketing writing, and that I tend to know what is good and what is not. However, I’m in a whole different bowl of soup here. So if I’ve sounded unsure or too self-deprecating, I’m only being honest with myself about my abilities so far. This is, after all, also a record of my novel writing adventures, so I’m trying to capture a true reflection of my feelings about the book as I go.

It’s like earlier this year when I covered university hockey and then the World Junior baseball championships for the Canadian Press. I was out of my comfort zone, pushing myself in a different writing direction, purposely trying to improve myself as a writer. For those of you I’ve mentioned this to, the experience was both stressful and exhilarating. The pressure to perform — and perform well — was definitely there, but I knew it was a challenge I could rise up and meet. Which ultimately I did, and I think that I am a better writer for taking on that challenge.

In that way, writing this novel is very much the same dealy. I’m not under the same time constraints, which for fiction I think is a good thing. Rule # 7:  art shouldn’t have a deadline. As long as the discipline is there and an honest effort is being put into it, then it should be left well enough alone until it finally is ready.

(Of course that might not be how it works in the real world. But that’s the way it should be, I reckon.)

Anyway, a good night tonight with a scene that took me in a whole different direction stylistically. I’m liking the flow of this piece, and I’ll see how it matures as I go alone. I don’t think my voice is all the way there yet, but the mainsail got ratcheted up the mast another notch.

Time to sit back and enjoy the ride — until tomorrow, that is.

(Novel Writing Totals)

Hours Today: 1
Words Today: 1,434
Hours Total: 7
Words Total: 10,463