writing writing writing…

I managed 800 words on Standoff City Of Lost Light untitled yesterday evening, and was pleased with the results. I had half an eye on this story after polishing off the final edit on Toby See The Stars and pretty much dived in on the first chapter without thinking. I found myself thinking of the first section whilst trying to sleep the other night, and felt that as it stood the first attempts didn’t come across as well as I hoped. The last version was particularly bad where I had decided Milo was suffering from autism, and the first part came across as an attempt to mesh Rain Man with Day Of The Dead. An interesting concept, but not that interesting. I want Milo to be odd – he is an oddball after all, but I’m all about subtle with my writing right now.

So I blatted through the approach to The Park – a reservation on the side of a mountain which faces onto Hong Kong island, which looks a lovely place to visit – and found myself happy with the results. The best part was how easy it all came across, very natural, very comfortable. I’ve come to realise I’m lazy when it comes to description – perhaps because I write at speed, yet slowly, which makes no sense but bear with me – and the entire section on Hong Kong silenced by a zombie holocaust comes to something like three sentences. Obviously not quite good enough. But overall I’m pleased.

I’ve found out in the last few years that the key to finishing a story is to get it written. This sometimes means I will leave an entire section unfinished and just plough on, often leaving tricker technical parts for the editing process, which I am growing to realise is a skill more important (for me) than writing itself. This prevents me getting stuck on a section that is bugging me, or not quite coming across, or is putting too many hurdles in getting character a to plot device b.

Standoff City Of Lost Light untitled has already been heavily plotted, with a 2,500 word synopsis that provides a great foundation for a smooth, uncomplicated writing journey. Looking forward to it.