Behind the third door… 1401 words, and the mystery that revealed the mystery within

Today’s writing was philosophical… and probably a bit expository. Which means what I wrote today is probably going to get heavily edited during the revision.

But I learned something big about my novel’s world today — something that has been creeping into the back of my brain in bits and pieces for the last couple of novels, but that today met me face to face and said, “Hey… this is what I am. Deal with it.”

Again, I might end up dealing with it by cutting a fair amount of today’s words during the five-book one-pass revision.

But right now, it’s still hot. For me, there’s no objective way to judge the value of first-draft words while they’re still fresh.

And the MOVEMENT I got from what I wrote today, in the form of taking the story forward, and in the form of opening up the whole damn story universe, was just magnificent.

This was lightning, and the words flew off my fingertips so fast I could barely keep up.

I worked for just a bit over an hour, and got 1401 words. For me, that’s flying.

And I’m looking forward to walking off my main character’s field of green grass and dandelions tomorrow, and taking what I’ve learned from today’s words back into the fight that’s waiting for her back in her small town that has temporarily achieved out-sized importance.


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Comments

2 responses to “Behind the third door… 1401 words, and the mystery that revealed the mystery within”

  1. Brenda Avatar
    Brenda

    I *love* writing sessions like this!

    1. Holly Lisle Avatar
      Holly Lisle

      Right? While I enjoy having a good idea of where the story is going, the moments that take me by surprise and fill me with wonder — while they can’t be planned — are magnificent when they happen.

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