Sunday, January 16, 2011

Weekend Writer: Two Minds are Better than One

My spouse's birthday was this weekend, so writing time took a back seat. This doesn't mean that I spent the weekend ignoring my book. Two more chapters went through the editing process, and since this is a holiday weekend, writing is on the agenda for tomorrow. Birthdays and holidays don't change the fact that there's lots of work to do and never enough time to complete every task on my list.

Even when we take a break from our respective computer screens, we aren't quite taking a break from writing. Over lunch, we discussed her work in progress and mine.

These discussions are important. The writing process is often a solitary effort, but too much alone time can lead to tunnel vision. Having someone to bounce ideas off of is a tremendous asset to me in developing my project. Putting ideas of how a character should feel or act into words forces me to clarify what I have in mind. Questions make me flesh out the character, adding depth and richness to my original idea.

My skills character building, world building, and plot building have all been helped by having Sarah here to listen and question my ideas. I would like to think that she finds my suggestions, comments, and questions equally helpful. 

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