Thursday, August 10, 2006

Writing and the learning curve

After losing out two whole days to that dreaded thing called “Real Life,” I got stuck back into the fantasy novel today. I’m still reworking what was already there, and I think I'm having far too much fun with it. What do I mean? Well, just little things, like I've introduced a meddling, mischevious spirit guide for my hero, just to stir up trouble for him and his object of lust (the heroine.) Naughty me. I’d written well over a third of it, and as I mentioned before it needed updated. I’m about done with that, so things will start moving much quicker shortly, but I came to the last older bit today and I thought “you could do that so much better now” so I deleted the whole chapter. Sounds hard? It gets easier, believe me. I understand better now what makes a novel more dynamic, and how to achieve it. On the one hand, I'm impressed I’ve learnt something, on the other I wish I’d known it back then ;) Learning, always learning.

For the readers out there, I'll be adding a naughty short story to my next newsletter, in the pipeline now, so join up HERE if you want my occasional newsletter (latest news, reading and contests) delivered direct to your mailbox.

In outside world news, this latest danger and chaos on flights makes my heart sink. Long haul travelling is a big deal for me anyway, but the potential long-term implications weighed heavy on me. Sad days. On that note, I hope everyone who calls by here is safe. It makes us step back and be glad of what we have. Hugs, all!