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| Writer's
Blog 6 |
The
day approaches!
I've undertaken to read the next part of my book
at my writing class next Thursday - 8th
December.
What that means is that by Thursday I need to
have completed a new chapter of around 4,500
words. "And "completing"
the chapter means, in my case, writing a whole
lot more than 4,500 words, then selecting and
editing the pieces - or scenes - that will fit
best together in a chapter.
Both the choice of scenes and the re-writing are
driven by the need to keep all the various
plot-lines going. As our tutor keeps
telling us, the story is like a bicycle - if
it's not going forward then it falls over.
And, as he also says, "writing is about
re-writing", something which is certainly
true for me.
The big issue is quality.
What I produce has to sound OK compared to the
pieces read each week by my
fellow-students. And these people are
good!
They write in many different styles, but all of
the pieces that I have heard in class are either
already of saleable quality, or else sound as if
they soon could be, with a little more
work. The high quality of my classmates'
work naturally adds to the pressure that any
deadline imposes, even a self-imposed
deadline. Although this is the 4th time
that I've read my work aloud, I'm still really
anxious to produce something good - for the
audience and for myself.
As a means of getting yourself to buckle down to
some serious work, there's nothing to beat it.
Wish me luck!
© David
Gray |
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