Here's a helpful tip from one writer to the next. When you are drafting that magnificent manuscript make an effort to not get yourself bogged down. Getting hung up on that special word or phrase can be detrimental to finishing your story in a reasonable amount of time. Instead, I implore you to write something down even if it is not exactly linear to your current line of thought. In other words skip it and come back.
Whenever I get stuck you can find '…' or 'xyz' listed in the manuscript. The name of a new character being introduced is a good example; they generally get named xyz until I figure it out. Another example, in Chances Are (chap 15), I originally wrote the following while drafting it:
Gavinar signaled Sir Macimar to join him on the dance floor.
"Macimar, I wish to be left alone for a few moments. See that I am not disturbed while I drink my next cup of mead." He then escorted Fardea to a long table and offered her a chair.
"You sing absolutely beautifully." Gavinar remarked as he joined her.
"Thank you; I was quite impressed by your skill of verse as well." She replied while taking a cup of mead offered to her and Gavinar
She laughed in response, "I'll bet, but you have plenty to offer that isn't related to your voice. I can assure you of that."
He followed her gaze into his lap and laughed back. She …"
(Fardea sings, he joins in having been classically trained in arts and music as a child of the court.… afterward they discuss why each sings. She learned how to soothe men, and to make them feel at ease with her. Who could suspect a pretty singer. )
--
'Bamph' came the sound of the ball room doors as they flew open and in burst Red Eye. He was still in full armor surrounded by five others also in full war gear, a sight that made many of the attendees gasp with surprise of the sight.
So basically I didn't hesitate when I ran out of steam. I just did the dots and dashes and moved on to another topic. In this case it was describing how Red Eye storms into the room and breaks up the flirting/story time between Fardea and Gavinar. It was days later before I went back and fixed the dots and missing text.
The more finished product is listed below:
Gavinar signaled Sir Macimar to join him on the dance floor.
"Macimar, I wish to be left alone for a few moments. See that I am not disturbed while I drink my next cup of mead." He then escorted Fardea to a long table and offered her a chair.
"You sing absolutely beautifully." Gavinar remarked as he joined her.
"Thank you; I was quite impressed by your skill of verse as well." She replied while taking a cup of mead offered to her and Gavinar from the servant Macimar had prompted.
"My story is an easy one; I was the son to a king. My father saw to it that I was classically trained in such things music and art. There was a time when entertaining was very important to me." He made a slight pause, leaned in smiling, "it always helped with the ladies."
She laughed in response, "I'll bet, but you have plenty to offer that isn't related to your voice. I can assure you of that."
He followed her gaze into his lap and laughed back. She was a fiery woman who was not afraid to hint at her sexuality, a trait Gavinar very much appreciated in her.
"So how did you learn to enchant an audience like that?"
She shrugged slightly, "I'm not sure to be honest. It has always been a natural thing for me." Her eyes drifted upwards as she searched her memory. "Hmph, I can't recall ever learning the trade properly come to think of it." Fardea smirked and continued on. "I have although sat many a night in taverns and listened to the entertainers. I guess I've just copied what I heard."
"Well whatever the reasoning behind your melodic aptitude it certainly casts a certain serenity across a room." He stated nearly bordering on poetic, an effort to impress the beauty before him.
"As you can imagine, soothing a crowded room can be very helpful in beguiling the men who sit in it. I have always found this misleading, for a profession like mine, quite helpful. Who would ever suspect the likes of me?" She rebutted back also trying to impress.
"Certainly not me, if I didn't know you better Fardea Panthrex."
"I guess I shouldn't give away my secrets to the king of the realm." She jested then added with a change of inflection to a more serious tone. "Honestly Al. I mean Gavinar, you probably understand me better than any other has. I hate to say it, but…" She hesitated to finish her sentence.
"What is it? And Fardea, you can call me Al. In fact, I kind of like it when you call me Al. There is just something about that accent of yours that drives me wild." He threw one more flirtatious smile her way.
"Okay Al, here's the bitter truth. A part of me wishes you were still that adventurous soul I met back at sea, on the deck of that galley. A king? You? How is that going work? You forget Al, I know you too!"
***********
'Bamph' came the sound of the ball room doors as they flew open and in burst Red Eye. He was still in full armor surrounded by five others also in full war gear, a sight that made many of the attendees gasp with surprise of the sight.
It is hard to always have that perfect adjective or witting rebuttal ready. Sometimes you just stove up and I totally get that. Who cares, move on, at least that's my motto. Haven't you ever done a crossword puzzle and locked up unable to finish it, but then a day later with a fresh perspective you breeze through that empty set of blocks? It's a lot like that.
Besides, who said a writer has to think linear, this is the twenty first century for goodness sake. We aren't all plunking away on typewriters with a bottle of white out ready to douse our pages with. Word processors allow us to revisit any part of our manuscripts on the fly. What is the word they throw around here at work so often, "a green document?" It means that the document is living and therefore ever changing and flowing with the current state of things. Let us make our manuscripts "green" up until we submit them then.
So this method is also handy in another respect that has nothing to do with getting stuck. Rather I get an idea for a follow up chapter. In order to not lose the concepts of where I'd like the story to go I'll jot or type them down in a miscellaneous document. Using the dash-dash concept becomes very handy in this situation, keeping all the different scenes, chapter plots, and characters separate. Later I'll fill in the material that was missed and place them in their correct sequence in the story. As a result, I'll often time work on two, three, or four chapters simultaneously as a result of this methodology.
In my opinion this allows the chapters to become more unified and work more integral to each other. Sure the tempo or flow of the book has to be revised, but at least the content is there. Anyways, not sure this will help anyone but thought I would share. Happy writing!
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