Well, this has been a struggle.

I hit 75k last night, but the last few days have been a trickle of writing that I just know will be obliterated in the now certain-to-be-needed third draft.

I’m not really sure what the problem is either. The outline is holding true, I’m still loving Scrivener, but it suddenly feels like someone’s drained 90% of my vocabulary. I look at earlier sections of the novel and I can literally see that the words were flowing so much more easily at that phase. Now, though, every word is a chore, every choice labored over for minutes before putting something down on (virtual) paper.

It’s frustrating, but trying to put a positive slant on it, it’s all a learning experience isn’t it?  I suspect deep down the reason I’m struggling is that there’s a flaw in the story that I’m writing around that I just need to identify and face up to. I don’t know what it is, but I’m sure it’s nothing that a good red pen and scissors exercise when this draft is complete won’t solve.

Anyway, I’m going to plough on with this draft, as painful as it has become. The end is in sight now (100K words), my main characters are all in their right places and the scene is set for the climactic battle. I just need to get there, as painful as that might be.

It’s a shame really – I’ve actually loved writing this novel, and compared to previous works I haven’t found it hard to put fingers to keyboard on a daily basis at all until recently. Earlier on I was nailing 1500 words + easily per day, but recent efforts are 600-1000, and a lot of it could/will be cut with no real impact to the story. Hey ho!

On the plus side – still loving Scrivener – easily the best part for me so far is that each scene is a separate file, which breaks the story down into nice manageable chunks for me to deal with. I’m even trying the Linux version now as part of my transition to a Ubuntu-running laptop. This bit is working alright actually, it’s the Google drive integration that’s proving irksome. But that’s another story.

Anyways – back to the WIP. I was going to lay my cards on the table this week and put down an anticipated release date but I think I might hold off from that, at least until this draft is completed.

Mike