Out of the Blue

All I've been doing lately in regards to my vexing/fantastic/rough/fancy work in progress is rewriting, editing, rewriting, editing. I've been so focused on just zoning in on making this second draft one that somebody other than me can actually read, that I was astonished with a developement today.

I got ideas for other stories. Yes, that's right. PLURAL. Meaning more than one idea.

I have no idea where they came from, or which crack in my brain they wriggled out of, but all of a sudden they were there. And that left me scrambling.

As far as ideas go, I can't speak to how anybody else works. I don't ask people where they get their ideas, because the answer is always the same: Nobody knows. Likewise, I don't know where my ideas come from, but when they arrive, they pop into my head and jolt me awake like a fire engine blasting down your street at 4 a.m. At first I'm bewildered and confused and don't know what the heck is going on, and the next thing I know, I'm in a haze trying figure out what the hell is going on.

As a writer, I am prepared for this sort of thing. I carry my lil' notebook around everywhere I got for various jottings and for just such an occasion. But getting everything down is a different story.

Ever have a dream that is so vivid an dreal, but when you wake up it's completely gone? You can't remember anything no matter how hard you try? When I get an idea for a short story or a novel or whatever, that's my biggest fear. I'm so scared I'm going to lose everything before I get it all down that I just start scribbling away furiously in the hopes that I don't lose one drop of that idea that just started overflowing.

In any event, the moral of this story is that I was shocked that all of my concentration on creating my second draft produced a couple of what I think could be very solid stories. I'm always stunned at the peculiar times inspiration hits, but I'll take it.

It's not only going to be editing and rewriting tonight. Add some outlining and creating to that list, too. I can't wait.

Write it all down...All of it

I'm going crazy lately. That may not come as a surprise to people that actually know me, but bear with me, please.

A bunch of different ideas have been flowing for the novel. Some for the ending, but some for the meat in the middle, too. I don't know if they will fit better or worse or just the same, so I didn't know what to do at first with all of these wonderful new friends that decided to stroll into my consciousness.

Instead of hemming and hawing over them, I have decided on a cure-all for this dilemma. I'm writing everything down. If they fit, they fit. If they don't work, well, I know where the delete key is on my keyboard.

I have no qualms about editing my work. Spending nearly two decades at newspapers has shown me that editing is more of a friend of yours than it is an enemy. Besides, who doesn't like options? I'm sure many of you have been used to writing alternate scenes for parts of your book or whatever it is you are writing.

When I started this process, I had a pretty good idea of where I wanted to go, and I had a decent outline in place. But I'm flexible. I'm going to use as much of my creative process as it's willing to give me, even if some of it is going to end up getting wiped out.

Fighting temptation

I'm coming down the home stretch in my book, and I'm pretty happy with what I've had so far. But one thing that's tough for me to do is resisting the urge to go back and change things.

I know there are some things I need to rearrange and change with the words I've already written. That's inevitable. But I feel like I've got a lot of good momentum going with my story, and I want to get it all out there before I start tinkering, or I might lose some of that beloved momentum.

When talking about it with one of my friends today, someone who edits while they write, I likened my process to dumping a bunch of Legos onto the living room floor. I'll figure out exactly what I've got once they're all spread out and out there. I know I've got a bunch of good things, but what I have, exactly, won't be certain until I get them all in the right place.

It's not that I just have a bunch of ramblings jumbled together into one long file with no chapters or anything. I have it organized, I just don't know if it's organized exactly how I like it. I'll delete some words. I'll add some words.

I'm sure there are plenty of different ways to go about writing a novel. I might even do it differently if I start another book after this one. Right now, the ideas are flowing. I'm not going to turn off that faucet.

The Boy Scouts were right

Ever get a great idea for your writing at an inopportune time? Like when you're standing in line at the grocery store? Or when you're sitting at a red light? Or when you're walking to your car?

Don't let those fleeting moments go away. When those fireworks are going off, don't just ooh and aah, dang it. Take a picture! I've let some of these thoughts slip away, either because I was unprepared for them or because I thought I would remember them later on.

I've learned to come prepared, and now I carry a notebook every single place I go. This may seem like some very basic stuff we're dealing with here, but this is something that you have to do everywhere. I don't go anywhere without a little notebook in my back pocket.

If I'm just walking up to the gas station a block from my house for whatever, I bring it with. I bring it downstairs into the laundry room, even though I know the laptop is right upstairs. The best thing about the notebook is that it gives you a running start when you hit the laptop to write at your next session.