Deadline is a pressure cooker, not a crockpot
I'll answer another of your questions tomorrow; today I felt the need to blog on what I'm doing with the book right now, and what came to me this morning. I think it might be helpful to some of you.
I'm hard at work on Chapter 24 of Bewitched & Betrayed -- though that's the ultimate understatement. I have two chapters to write in two weeks, plus some tweaks throughout the manuscript, then put the 25 separate chapter files together into one file. Then comes spellchecking, formatting, adding headers, page numbers, and generally making sure it looks good before I load it into an email for Anne (my editor) and hit "send."
All in two weeks.
Yeah. Right.
But that's my deadline and I'm determined to stick to it.
The last few chapters go slowly because there's so much to be done in them. These are the climax chapters where storylines are resolved, the big action happens, as well as setting up the next book. So I have a ton of work to do and only two weeks to do it in. Oh well, I've done more in less time. So it's certainly possible.
But at the same time, these chapters won't be rushed. For example I have six pages written on Chapter 24; some of it is usable, most is not. This isn't unusual. I know what needs to happen and how the chapter ends, but it's big stuff, HUGE in fact. So right now I'm feeling my way around the action, zeroing in on precisely HOW the action needs to happen to get the maximum dramatic and emotional impact from my characters.
And I realized in the wee hours of this morning that being on a really tight deadline is like a pressure cooker, not a crockpot. Sure, ideas need to simmer, but they're forced to do it faster and under extreme pressure. I was having problems with the section I was writing last night. When I woke up this morning, I realized that I was jumping into the chapter too quickly, and not giving the tension a chance to build. Getting that high level of tension is critical to the chapter having the impact it must have.
To take the pressure off of my writing brain (aka creativity) just a little, I'm writing longhand right now and then transfering it to my laptop. This does two things: frees my mind to wander and explore ideas and do some stream of consciousness "talking with myself" to work out problem spots, and it also keeps me from surfing, checking email, etc. -- the killers of productivity. And goodness knows, I need to be uber productive right now.
Just thought I'd share that with you this morning. Perhaps there's some tidbits that might be useful to you. So unless I feel the need to "share" again tomorrow morning, I'll get back to answering your great questions.
Happy Wednesday (the day I get my Nielsen BookScan sales figures each week),
Lisa
I'm hard at work on Chapter 24 of Bewitched & Betrayed -- though that's the ultimate understatement. I have two chapters to write in two weeks, plus some tweaks throughout the manuscript, then put the 25 separate chapter files together into one file. Then comes spellchecking, formatting, adding headers, page numbers, and generally making sure it looks good before I load it into an email for Anne (my editor) and hit "send."
All in two weeks.
Yeah. Right.
But that's my deadline and I'm determined to stick to it.
The last few chapters go slowly because there's so much to be done in them. These are the climax chapters where storylines are resolved, the big action happens, as well as setting up the next book. So I have a ton of work to do and only two weeks to do it in. Oh well, I've done more in less time. So it's certainly possible.
But at the same time, these chapters won't be rushed. For example I have six pages written on Chapter 24; some of it is usable, most is not. This isn't unusual. I know what needs to happen and how the chapter ends, but it's big stuff, HUGE in fact. So right now I'm feeling my way around the action, zeroing in on precisely HOW the action needs to happen to get the maximum dramatic and emotional impact from my characters.
And I realized in the wee hours of this morning that being on a really tight deadline is like a pressure cooker, not a crockpot. Sure, ideas need to simmer, but they're forced to do it faster and under extreme pressure. I was having problems with the section I was writing last night. When I woke up this morning, I realized that I was jumping into the chapter too quickly, and not giving the tension a chance to build. Getting that high level of tension is critical to the chapter having the impact it must have.
To take the pressure off of my writing brain (aka creativity) just a little, I'm writing longhand right now and then transfering it to my laptop. This does two things: frees my mind to wander and explore ideas and do some stream of consciousness "talking with myself" to work out problem spots, and it also keeps me from surfing, checking email, etc. -- the killers of productivity. And goodness knows, I need to be uber productive right now.
Just thought I'd share that with you this morning. Perhaps there's some tidbits that might be useful to you. So unless I feel the need to "share" again tomorrow morning, I'll get back to answering your great questions.
Happy Wednesday (the day I get my Nielsen BookScan sales figures each week),
Lisa
posted by Lisa Shearin at
6:32 AM
11 Comments:
Yay for revelations in the night about letting tension build up. You can do this!
Although...a pressure cooker is a crockpot, right? I've only just learnt this definition, upon misreading crockpot as crackpot.
A crockpot cooks slowly at a low temperature. A pressure cooker cooks quickly at high temperatures. At least that's always been my understanding. I've never used a pressure cooker and rarely use a crockpot -- having greyhounds who are tall enough to access the kitchen counter, I'm not about to leave a crockpot of beef stew cooking while I'm gone. ; )
Excellent insight Lisa! :) And lately I've had to write longhand for a Shiny New Idea to work out some kinks and character development. It's a LOT slower, but in the end I get more done, usually. :)
Great post! I love getting an insight into how you write, it's awesome!
Thank you, Ashley & Jo!
You do each chapter in a separate file? Forgive my ignorance but- why? I mean, does it make editing faster? Just makes the sections you need to work on easier to find? I really want to know incase I've been missing something all this time.
Chicory, the answer to all of your questions is "yes." My books can be up to 32 chapters and 118K words. I write in chapter chunks and keep up with my progress by the number of chapters finished, not the number of words written. It's just the way I've always worked, and it works for me. And putting together the "master file" only takes me about an hour or so.
All that being said, scrolling through all those pages to find stuff would make me seriously woozy. ; )
Lisa-
I never thought of doing it your way either, but it sounds like it would be a lot easier. How exactly do you put the files together?
Victoria, I simply start a new Word file, go to each chapter and copy & paste. Then I run spellcheck on the whole thing, take care of the formatting, headers & page numbers. Usually takes an hour or so.
I really enjoyed this post and the insight into your writing :). I really like the idea of writing each chapter as a separate document. It might really help me with my writing. And now I'm curious about the book after B&B!! Who does Raine end up with?!
I find the way you write intriguing. {Smile}
I've noticed one other advantage of long-hand first. Not only does it get me away from the ever tempting email, but it forces me to re-read and revise when I type it into the computer. {SMILE}
Anne Elizabeth Baldwin
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home