When I can't write, I think about writing. I imagine myself talking
to someone, anyone, who wants to know what it's like. I explain that
I write in chunks, little scenes and bits of scenes. Those bits are
like bricks, and I try to build a wall with them. Problem is,
they're not all the same size, and they don't fit one right after the
other. I don't always know how a story ends before I start writing
it, but I usually know by the time I'm half-way done. That means I
have a starting point, and an ending point. Then the story goes
where ever it damn well pleases, never mind the fact that it's
supposed to be headed toward the ending. I also write pieces that
get put down in the middle, never mind where the beginning and end
may be.
So I have a bunch of bricks spread out all over this big field, and I
need to make a wall out of them. To do that, I make a map of where
each of them is. Open Office has a spreadsheet function, and I've
made one that's set up like a calender. Now I'm going through the
draft that I have, and putting each important scene on the calender.
You know how you say, 'The next Saturday, the family gathered again.'
Well, I need to make sure that the next Saturday wasn't the very
next day, and that one of the family members who gathers is still
alive to show up. This will help me get a better grip on the whole
book.
Claudia and I finished season one of 'Bedlam' this week. It's a
series about the old Bethlam Royal Hospital being converted into an
apartment building. Unfortunately, some of the prior tenants aren't
quite as dead as they should be. (See? If they'd just had a
spreadsheet, everything would have worked out fine) So far it's a
good series, but it's also another reason to hate the Brits for only
having six episodes to a season. In the last episode, you get the
sense that things are just starting to heat up.
Kind of ironic that a post about keeping track of days is a day late,
don't you think? Don't blame me, I was writing.
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