The words are coming slowly in this new enterprise.
I think I know what's wrong, and it's not the story: it's... rugby season. It's also cricket finals time, and since I love my sport, everything else has slowed to a crawl - book included.
Sure, I could turn the damned TV off, read the results tomorrow in the newspaper, but... no, actually, I couldn't. You only get to see something for the first time once. Highlights don't give you that adrenalin charge, that "Oohh, so close!" moment.
Yes, indeed, while I'm not writing, I like to watch what other people are doing, be it sport or in fiction or where-ever; here lies inspiration.
If you constantly write, you'll burn out and compose unmitigated and unforgivable trash. It could be fixed with hard work, but to me,that defeats the purpose.
You have to focus on writing, on creating the scenes in your head and then transfer them on to the page. The more concentration you use, the better the first draft will be.
This weblog, for example, is mostly written off the top of my head. I'm sure there are mistakes - no, I guarantee there are mistakes. But I'm not precious about it because some days, I struggle with what to write about. It's important, but not as important as getting a 120,000 word book as close to right as I can get it.
A couple of hundred words is child's play to write or edit compared with 120k.
So, I should get back to it, huh. There's a break in the cricket and the Waratahs have gone down to the Chiefs, damn it. But another game is about to start and the Indians are about to bat. Gotta go!
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