Thursday, February 10, 2011

Thursday Thoughts

My subconscious is my greatest ally, solving problems in my writing that I often didn't even know I had, but I'm still often surprised by the way it surfaces. However, I've learned to live with the somewhat capricious impulses it conjures and even to harness them. For instance, I know that writer's block isn't a sign of rustiness or procrastination for me: it's my undermind telling that there's a plot problem, hole or weak spot that I need to resolve before I continue. So I've now learned that when I get that sense of reluctance and malaise to step back from the work and ask, "What's wrong?"

In this case, my subconscious granted me a real gift. This last episode of "Who Wants To Be A Hero?" has changed a lot since my original concept, when it was supposed to be a simple show-down between the last three contestants. The latest quirk not only enhances the drama (I hope!), it solves a problem that's been bothering me from the beginning: my main viewpoint character is (perhaps necessarily) rather passive. Now I get to put her in play with a vengeance, and it all makes sense with the development of the episode.

Not going to make the Valentine's Day deadline, but it looks like end of the month is a reasonable goal. I guess it'll be my personal birthday present to finish the darn manuscript. Wow, something about that just sounds wrong.

Word count for 2/3 - 2/9: 10,480

No comments: