Monday, June 12, 2017

The Zen of Writing



I have found rewriting and polishing the fifth story in my Blood Moon series slowing to a crawl the last few days. There seems to be some minor change in every single paragraph. Sometimes one edit informs another, earlier in the story, and I find myself going back and forth.

It’s not tedious, though. Rather, I feel like I’m shaping bonsai. I make a careful trim here, move a shaping wire a millimeter there, step back to take a look, and ease in for another snip.

By the time I got halfway through the novelette I removed over one thousand, one hundreds words, the storytelling tighter as a result. And with rewrites continuing in this Zen manner I expect to finish today and either move on to book six or resume the intensive revamping of book fifteen. We shall see.

However physically industrious or whimsically intellectual, is there a particular project absorbing you these days? Let me know in the comments. Meanwhile I’m off to read chapter eleven!

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10 comments:

  1. Blood Moon...loving the title, now tell me a bit about what this book is about? I love to read stories about vamps, witches, and so on.....yep, I know, makes you wonder about me now! haha.....I have a series I started on a couple yrs ago. I will go by the library and pick up an auto book on it from time to time. Been a while since I have gotten one to listen too. I used to be sure I had one when I was riding from home to work....and back. Course there were the times that I had my earphones in at work. Kind of hard listening and doing dictation! haha....

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    1. You remind me of my days working for an automotive glue company. To get through the day I wore an inner ear headphone on the right playing music to get through the day. As a result, that ear has a little less hearing ability due to a few mishaps with the iPod turned up loud without my remembering. ~oops~ The canal was stretched out larger than the left, too, a sort of interesting side affect that faded over time. Skin is amazingly elastic! Thanks for sharing.

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  2. Oh...and reply to your question, I have so many things started that I need to focus on just one and get something done! So, no, nothing that is really absorbing my mind, my physical get up and go.....

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    1. To reply to *your* question (Ha ha!) the series is erotic romance featuring shapeshifters and magic. There is a ton of sex, too, perhaps more than most readers would appreciate. ~grin~ BloodMoon is the name of a band (without the space in between) while Blood Moon is a lunar cycle in the lycanthrope calendar featured in the first novelette. Thanks for the interest!

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  3. I am impressed at your dedication and sticking to it. I have lots of projects I want to do and no motivation.

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    1. I'll bet you do better than you think! Thanks for the kind word.

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  4. Bless your heart. I always fear over-pruning, as I have done it before. *sigh* Perhaps you can give tips for this. Hugs!

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    1. Everything I've read from you is really good. Your poetry is inspiring. Thanks for the support!

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  6. Glad the edits are going well. It's funny--sometimes you're in the zone and sometimes these things can make you crazy. Good luck. I hope it continues to go well.

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