One of the benefits to my particular style of writing (which is writing whenever I have a minute or two--regardless of where or when that may be, whilst eating lunch (although not on a soup day...impossible to write on a soup day), or waiting in the car during a dance lesson or something like that) is that the story has time to unfold in its own way, in its own time. In other words, though it may take a long time to write a book in little snippets of time, it never feels rushed as I write. The back of my brain is always processing where the story might go next...it always stays just a bit a head of my hand or keyboard.
HOWEVER, the pain-in-the-rear part of writing over a long period of time is that sometimes the writer (me) imagines the setting looking a little different each time I happen to be writing a scene in that location. Yes, sometimes the walls change color (easy to fix) or THE FURNITURE MOVES (not so easy to fix.) How can the hound be next to the bench? You said on page 143 that the bench was next to the door. If the hound is next to the bench which is next to the door, wouldn't Thomas trip over the dog before he gets to Trinket when he rushes into the room? It seems like the bench is across the room? Is there a second bench? If so, perhaps it is not a bench, because then it is confusing as to which bench it is. Maybe it is the bed? Or a chair?
Yes, I move furniture with my mind. Sometimes I picture a room one way. Sometimes it looks another. I suppose it might help me to draw little maps of rooms and such, except that my drawing skills are not that refined...at all. And remarkably, I am completely unaware that I do stuff like this--this mental room rearrangement. Perhaps one too many episodes of Spouse vs House were on as I was falling asleep at night. I ONLY notice this when someone else points it out.
Yes, I know you are all wishing that you were my editor! Doesn't it sound like a fun job!!??
Off now to re-read the bench scene. What's another word for bench, by the way?
hrh
6 comments:
Ha! Love your example of Thomas tripping over the dog. I try to get the furniture locations stuck in my mind before writing a scene, but my critique partners would say it's a loose effort at best. I've also switched rooms altogether before and received comments like, "How in the world can she reach for the egg beater? She's in the living room! That's just weird."
Jess-I do that, too! I totally move characters from room to room...impossibly so! (and I sometimes play with the time of day, like I'm the Sun God or something! It's day...no! it's night! No! It's evening!)
Sheesh.
Good to know I'm not alone.
I've done that too. Suddenly I see things I didn't before, and I need to include it. It's hard to keep some of the continuity!
Okay, I would LOVE to be your editor because it would be awesome fun--even with the moving furniture! Thanks for some great Thursday laughs!
I move things with my mind too! One example: I had a character leave something important in one place and pick it up in another. Ah, the beauty of teleportation. Too bad I wasn't writing sci-fi...
This is so funny, Shelley! And I do this all the time. I've had a character climb a tree, and then suddenly appear in a meadow.
Here's a synonym for bench: "settle."
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