Productive Procrastination

It was an interesting couple of days on Brainiac Kapow, even though I didn't get much actual work done. Sometimes just thinking can be productive.

After a couple of days of knocking out at least a thousand words a day, I got sidetracked, but I think it was useful sidetrackery. I wrote precisely 74 words Sunday, then had work to do for the Source. We also went to the library, where I ended up checking out four middle grade and YA titles. Different styles, different voices, different ways of telling a story. A library card is a vital tool for someone trying to learn the craft of writing.

Monday I took a day off both from the Source and my WIP. I tried to, anyway. Tori and I saw a movie ("Ender's Game," it was OK, but in telescoping the story down, they left out an awful lot of what made the book so good. If you hadn't read it, you'd wonder what all the fuss was about.) I ended up writing one story for the Source late Monday, because somebody had to do it. But mostly it was a relaxing day. I kind of needed that.

But even though I wasn't pounding away on the keyboard, I spent a lot of timing thinking about Who Is Brainiac Kapow? I suspect there's nothing unusual about that. All authors obsess, don't they? (Please sayt yes, that's normal.) I was worried about the tone of the book, is it too serious? Am I telling the story I planned to tell?

This morning when I woke up, all the doubts were gone. Or, may be that's not the right way to put it. I still have questions, but I won't know the answers until I finish the draft. And that's a good feeling. The answer's there, I just have to find it. And there's only one way to do that – straight ahead, keep writing.

WIP UPDATE – 11,750 words after writing the 74 words Sunday. They weren't great words, but they were needed, they added something to the chapter I thought I'd finished. I realized it was the only place for the character Jett to explain how she feels about her real name. They work.