Linecrafting

I decided to test the theory that I could avoid getting bitten by yet another plot bunny, this one for the Merlin Big Bang, by writing the first scene to get it out of my head.  In doing that, I re-discovered the reason why I do not let my inner editor out from the dungeons until I'm finished writing something.

It has to do with linecrafting, and making something sound just right.

(for the record, no, I haven't signed up for the Big Bang.  I am not convinced I have a plot yet)

Anyway, sometimes I will write something, and it will be absolutely completely crap.  There will be sufficient crap to pile it all high enough for it to get on any ride at the amusement park by itself.  Other times, I don't have the scene firmly enough in my head, the extraneous details, the supporting environment, and it's a struggle to get something right.  But once I have it down -- especially the first sentence of any given scene -- it comes out like a burst dam.

I must have rewritten this sentence a billion times during my lunch hour today, trying to get the right feel for the scene.  Alas, the inner editor chose that moment to break loose, and this is what happened.


( Linecrafting for writers )

Metrics!

Nearly forgot -- today's metrics come up to 4,000 words.

I should explain about the word counts.  I don't, technically, stop writing at a nice, lovely round number of 1,000 or 4,000.  When I announce metrics, I don't round up -- if anything I round down.  Unless the word falls at the halfway mark, because, mathematically, 5's don't round up, and they definitely don't round down.  At which point I just leave it at the 5.

So if I say I did 3,000 words on Friday, I probably actually did something more like 3,344 words.  If I say did 1,500 words on Sunday, I probably actually did 1,789 words, unless I felt particularly bad about my crappy word count, in which case I say I did 1,700 words.

Today's word count, at a balmy 4,000 words, was actually 4,253.  And the only reason I'm mentioning it is because I just know it will skew someone's when will Part 9 be finished math (you know who you are).