Just a few notes as I enter into the dreamspace of the novel:
- I reacted to the pressure from other writers to cause my characters suffering. It’s a habit of mine to think that suffering means death, as in: the plot’s gone on long enough so kill your characters now. Where on earth did I get that from? Everything so far has been incredibly plot-driven. I’m going to try to be a benevolent creator and only destroy the ones that must inevitably die to complete this story.
- The reason that the powers that be want us to discover and communicate suffering now has to do with finishing the novel. We have to reach the point in the novel where all hope shall soon be lost and we simply can’t do that if everyone’s in the same place at the end as they were in the beginning. Loss, illness, complication, consequences… all these things need to start happening now. But the writer has the responsibility to make sure that such trials are not perfunctory and are furthermore meaningful.
- In order to accomplish meaning at this stage of writing the novel, the genuine feelings of the writer are suddenly very important. Those feelings are a needed resource. I’m realizing today as I enter into the novel that I need to find my own feelings about living, dying, suffering, and striving in order to have empathy for my characters and to express them in a sincere way.
So here I go, I’m shooting for five thousand words today. Let’s pray it won’t be a bloodbath.
I find 5k to be a target I have to be careful about, I can aim for 3 and then make 5, but if I aim straight for 5 I seem to set up a fail. No doubt it is partly due to me having trouble settling to any one session longer than two or three hours - then I need a break. Given my best hourly rate is about one K then it is a no brainer that five can be a touch too far.
ReplyDeleteGood luck though! Your count is impressive so you must have made this in the past!