November 13, 2007

Not a good writing day, despite my best intentions. What should have yielded six or seven good work hours dwindled to less than three, all told. To be honest, I often find more reasons to be distracted when the material is difficult. I've also been spoiled by the ease with which I wrote the first Bradford book (the second took longer and proved more difficult at times.) Where I once took a full year to produce a first draft novel, I've now come to expect it in much less. I produced the first draft (45,000 words) of The P'Town Murders in 18 consecutive days, which works out to about 2500 words per day. Anything less than 1000 words a day now seems unacceptable, though I have to accept that some days I just won't be able to force the writing. On the positive side, I was pleased with the little bit of work I did on a scene in Lake on the Mountain (my current project, a literary thriler.) Dan, the protagonist, is a missing persons investigator. He's enrolled in a compulsory anger management program as a result of losing his temper at work. In this particular scene, he confronts his smug, passive-aggressive therapist, turning the tables on him and making him feel very uncomfortable and vulnerable. One point for the little guy!