Flow or Stall?

When a book almost writes itself, for an author it could be said there’s nothing better. The words flow, the plot falls into place and the word count grows quickly. It’s sad, too, when books like that come to an end. There’s never any guarantee the next book will spill onto the page like the previous. Those books that are pulling-teeth painful to write could be books I shouldn’t even be writing. If I’m finding it tough, why do I continue with that book? Because I hate wasted words. I hate admitting the book isn’t calling to me as I think it should, so I write it anyway. It doesn’t mean I’ll ever submit it for publication, but I’ll finish it all the same. Sometimes I start over, which is what I’ll be doing with a book I’ve left half written. The beginning is an information dump, something I try very hard not to do, but at first I couldn’t work out what was wrong with it. I just didn’t have the urge to write more of it and was too close to it to see the light. Now, since taking a break and looking at it objectively, I saw the information dump and realised that rather than having my words wasted, I just need to rearrange them and write things in between to thin out the feel of giving my readers a list.

Lightbulb moments are great.

The thing is, I’m so into the flowing book that I’m afraid if I switch to the info dump book I’ll lose the urge to finish the one that is shouting to be written. So the flowing book wins until it’s completed, and then I’ll return to the other book and fix the mess I made. Hopefully. If not, I have a cozy home for it in a file on my computer.

So far I have no title for the flowing book. Sometimes I start with the title and work from there, but other times I find a title crops up as I’m writing. One line appears in the book and the title is born. I have yet to have a book where a title totally eludes me, but hey, there’s a first time for everything!

So, off I go back into my world where a kidnap has occurred and a rescue is about to take place. Oh, the joys of putting my mind films on the page. I really do love my job!


(Lightbulb image from www.faqshop.com)