The best answer I can come up with is that I’m naturally speeding
up as I go along, and the adrenalin rush from getting closer and closer to the
target is pulling me along, although it would be wrong to say I was kicking and
screaming as it dragged me toward the finishing line.
I’m not spending very more time writing than I was six
months ago, maybe half an hour longer, no more than that, but my output has
almost doubled. I set out on this challenge to prove, to myself more than
anyone else, that the old adage “write every day” either had some basis or not.
For me, the empirical evidence is overwhelming. I’m writing more, I’m writing
faster and I’m writing better. A quick scan of my most recent completed
manuscript compared to the first one that formed part of this challenge is
illuminating – one million, or thereabouts, words later, and there is no doubt
my writing is better, less error strewn, and cleaner.
I’m not saying it’s perfect, it’s not, by a long way and
everything is going to go through the wringer in a two pass edit phase before I
even think about letting anyone else see them, but it’s better. At least two of
the manuscripts will probably not survive the process, but when I go back to
them, we’ll deal with that particular fence when we get to it. The horse may
jump, or may yet learn to sing.
What’s not to like as the final finish line approaches – I’m
more productive, and what I’m producing is of a better quality – I’m never
going to win prizes for my writing, that was never my aim, and I don’t want to
appear smug – but I’m feeling good right now.
No comments:
Post a Comment