Books are Like Onions

Quote: “The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.” ~Mark Twain

Song being played: Professional Killer by KFMDM (and loud, so as to wake me up)

Good afternoon everyone! I had an early shift, and boy it’s hard getting out of bed when I am used to sleeping in. I swear I am nocturnal. For reals, folks, for reals. I think it’s from staying up late all through high school. I would get home, do my homework (first thing you say? Yes, first thing. I was/am a huge nerd. Nerdy nerd-nerd, they don’t come much nerdier than me) clean up a bit, then onto to my writing. This put me at 7-9 at night writing.

Even now as an adult (I almost typed that with a straight face…almost) I still catch these creative spurts, yes, you guessed it, late at night. My muse likes to play tricks on me, yes he does (my muse is a guy. *shrugs* it’s just the way he is. And he likes other writers more than me. He continually flirts with LenaLothanas). Even if I wake up early, fully intending to write all morning, I still stumble over the words. Hours later, I am tinkering around on some other project, and –whoash! Suddenly I have ideas, and thoughts. Or I could be working at night, trying to wrap things up so I can go to bed at a decent hour and be a productive member of society, when –wham! My muse hits me upside the head with the creativity bat. So much for sleep. (“Sleep is for the weak!” is my muses’s rallying cry)

So there was some football game on last night, called the Superbowl. It’s practically a holiday here in the U.S. of A. I don’t mean to sound like a stereotypical girl, but football bores the heck out of me. I don’t follow it. I go to my parent’s Superbowl party every year for the food and the commercials.

This was my favorite one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SciPkHsf-qk

LOL! My favorite part is at the end, where the girl goes after the robot, “Jeffery! Come back!”

I WANTZ A JEFFERY!

…Anyways, it’s time for my weekly update: Slow. Excruciatingly slow. Yikes. I am used to pounding out word counts in the 2-5k range, and even as much as 10K on a good day (yes, I type very fast). This editing nonsense feels m-u-c-h s-l-o-w-e-r. I feel like I will NEVER ever be done, EVAR. I will turn into one of those people who always says, “I am working on my book” because there’s always only ONE (1) book they are dithering with for YEARS.

But then I look at what page I worked on yesterday and realize I am indeed moving forward (and not backwards as I secretly suspected). So! Progress is being made. I am just impatient to be finished editing. But then I tell myself to enjoy the process, love each stage I am in. To be fair, editing IS pretty neat. Reminds me of that bit in Shrek, where Shrek tells Donkey that ogres are like onions, because they have layers.

Books are like onions. At least, mine is turning out to be. Hopefully because you will cry in parts, and because it has layers that I didn’t know about previously. I have a completed first draft, closer to being a second at this point, since I edited it BEFORE I started the Grand Editing Slog, and I thought I knew all the twists and turns my book would take. I thought I would spruce up the view point, and narration, and all that jazz during revision, but as I am working I have better ideas. I had an amazing idea the other day, that would really pull some scenes together. It’s like carving a stature, where my rough draft is the rough block of stone, and as I edit and revise, I chip away at everything that isn’t my book.

Pretty amazing, actually.

And the thing I love about editing?

The words are already there! Yay!

So, how is your progress going? Where are you at? If you need a swift kick in the pants to get going, consider yourself kicked. ;)

Writing Prompt:

I am doing a blogfest, hosted by Courtney Reese (http://courtneyreese86.blogspot.com/2010/01/critique-this-presents-love-at-first_04.html ) about love at first sight. Basically, you write a scene on the topic and then post it to your blog. Then everyone goes around reading each other’s scenes. Exciting! The topic, in honor of Valentine’s Day, is love at first sight. When two characters realize they are in love.

Why don’t you do the same? When does your characters realize they are in love? Is it a shocking revelation? A slow feeling over time? Feel free to join the blogfest, but if not, let me know how your scene turned out.