Saturday, June 26, 2010

Overboard on Writing


Thanks to everyone who commented yesterday on my blog. I really do appreciate it and glad you all stopped by. It’s good to know I’m on the right track with what I’m putting up here. You never know if something is going to touch a nerve of some sort with a person. Just knowing that I seem to be having a good balance is great to here.

These past three days I’ve been on a whirlwind writing tour. If you follow me on Twitter, you will see that I have written 9935 words in three days and I’m not even done for the night. I have about another 4K to go before I call it quits. That will be almost a 5K average a day. What’s interesting about this number is that on most days, I’ve started late in the day.

The house gets quiet and suddenly, my mind is alight with ideas and words and they all want to come out at once. I can’t type enough to keep them flowing. And I’m a slow typist...LOL...as I only do about 35 words a minute. But when the creative juices flow and I am dead on with a story, I go fast.

If I were having a race, I would say that the best I’ve ever done in an hour was about a thousand words. Yeah, you read the number correctly. While that may seem like a huge number, all it means to me is that I was in the groove and my mind was flowing exactly with the story. It doesn’t happen very often but when it does, I go with the flow until I drop.

You never know when you’ll get on another writing streak and you have to take them as they come. Creative creatures are fickle and I’ll be the first to admit it. When I saw this quote, I knew I had found something worth repeating.

Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia. ~E.L. Doctorow

When I get on a writing jag my family and many of my friends tell me I act as if I have schizophrenia. I frequently have insomnia. I hear the voices of my characters and they won’t shut up until I’ve written at least one chapter a day. Then there’s the fact I will get forgetful due to the lack of sleep and even talk funny as part of the whole system. Probably the worst part is that it all seems normal to me.

Part of my problem is the middle of the night is the only time where the house is one-hundred percent quite. In most rooms I can hear a pin drop. There’s no sound of the DH and the teenager having an argument or a discussion. They like to call them negotiations which, drive me nuts. LOL! The animals are asleep and all TVs are either off or at a bare minimum as far as sound goes. The only part I don’t like is that my office shade becomes translucent at night and I appear as a floating head to those outside.

Yup, it’s fun to see people stop and stare because all they can see is the light from the monitor reflecting off my face. I explain my concern to the DH and didn’t believe him when he told me that at all. He had to take a picture to show me and I must admit it is weird. Probably weirder for those who shouldn’t be out wandering late at night. LOL!

As much as I love chatting with you all, I really must get back to those pesky characters. They screamed at me all through dinner and are doing it again because I’m putting together this blog. They’re probably up to something I don’t want them to do...hey, wait...I tell them what to do.

See you all tomorrow! Have a great day!

Lynn

10 comments:

  1. That's two much are thay always screaming to be written?How do you ever sleep?Well i guess you have to let them have there way.but not all the time i hope for your sake.But i'm glad authors hear them so i can read them.

    sasluvbooks(at)yahoo.com

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  2. God Bless you Lynn. Writers are such dedicated people. I really enjoyed this post and quote today.
    Carol L.
    Lucky4750@aol.com

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  3. You should get the typing program that types as you speak to the computer. Then you're family will really think you've gone over the deep end. My mother made all of us take typing. She said at least we'd always be able to get a job with typing skills. She was right.

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  4. Hi Lynn,

    At least now I know I am not crazy, that other writers get pestered by characters and plots. Loved the quote. What I want to know though, is who is outside late at night watching you? That sounds like a creepy Stephen King scenario.
    Thanks for sharing your thoughts on writing.

    kelleyheckart.com

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  5. I sure know what you mean. I was awake a good part of last night, with characters telling me what to do. Unfortunately, I did not get up and write, opting for the sleep option (or as it turned out, the no-sleep option.) Guess I should listen to them, like you do, and just get up and write.

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  6. Stacey,

    Well, the good thing is that there are days where they totally shut up. LOL! I just don't want too many of those in a row.

    Thanks for stopping by!

    Lynn

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  7. Thanks, Carol!

    I try to be dedicated but some days, like today, it sneaks up on me and I'm tired all day. Now, at almost 11 pm at night, I get a second wind and want to write a little more. Go figure. LOL!

    Thanks for stopping by!

    Lynn

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  8. She,

    Typing is always a good skill to have. I understand your mother's point with that one.

    I tried the speaking one before and it takes a long time to get used to it. I could never get the punctuation correct and spent more time cleaning it up than if I had typed it.

    Thanks for stopping by!

    Lynn

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  9. Kelley,

    No, you're not crazy...LOL! I think most good writers do hear their characters. At least I hope so.

    I know what you mean about people looking at me. I've often wondered so I had my husband put in a motion sensing light as I didn't want any one getting too close. It's freaked some people out who were trying to take peaches off the front yard peach tree. LOL!

    Thanks for stopping by!

    Lynn

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  10. Yeah, Diane, I've spent many a restless night trying to shut them up. I figure it's just easier to give in, write what they want then crawl back to bed. I can always sleep late whereas I can't always recreate a good scene.

    Thanks for stopping by!

    Lynn

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