Day One

As an aspect of my goal to finish the rough draft of the remaining three stories in my cycle, I have forsaken most of my social life for the month of September. Unless it's something I've already committed to, work related, a date, or one of those things that is so immeasurably Awesome that I really have no choice but to do it, I'm not going out. This essentially eliminates chill gatherings at friends' houses (which is the bulk of my outings), birthday parties (which is most of the rest of my outings), concerts, movies, events, lunches, dinners, and the like.

Last night I came home right after work, had dinner, and by 11:30 p.m. was writing. Considering I leave work at 9:30 p.m. that's actually a fairly good turnaround on time.

I set a glass of wine and some chocolate next to me on one side, had some incense burning on the other, and my chill ambient music playing in the background from my computer. I opened up the Word document and started to write. After some pacing, jumping, cursing, and flailing I finally figured out the beginning of the story and began ACTUALLY writing. Four pages later, I'd completed the first scene and decided to hit the hay.

The hardest thing to recognize with writing creative works is that, compared to academic papers--or, indeed, one's own expectations--four pages is quite a lot to write in one night. There's a feeling of "only four pages? Really?" that must be reconciled with the flip side, that coming up with four pages of fiction can--and often does--take the better part of an evening. And that has to be okay. I can't allow myself to feel punished or inadequate for not completing more than that. Sure, sometimes I hit The Zone and can write 20 pages without being aware of my time, but when I'm not there, when it's skill as much as talent in play, four pages has to be sufficient. And it has to be okay. Especially considering how much time and energy I put into the structure, the format, and the conventions that are all factors in the subtleties of my writing.

Next round, we'll see how much I write. But I've begun it, and that is the important part right now. This story will live outside of my brain.