Ren Faire, Binge Writing and Me
Originally published at K.T. Hanna - The Scribble Muse. You can comment here or there.
So, last week when I wrote up my intentions to post three times a week, I said I’d talk about what I did on the weekends every Monday - I kind of forgot that this weekend just gone - all I’d be doing is writing. Or wanting to write.
First things first though. Months ago I planned to go to the KC Ren Faire with my friend, Kate. I had a fantastic day. Got some awesome NeNe Thomas art, a beautiful new top, and found an amazing piece of artwork that looks exactly like one of my main characters does in my head. The day was just perfect and I had a lot of fun. Definitely planning on going back next year, but maybe for a whole weekend this time.
The bad thing about the weekend was Book 3. I left for the Faire with twenty-four thousand words left in my target for the third book. I tried to write when I got home, but could only manage a couple of thousand words.
Now to understand why this is such a bad thing for me, you need to realize I get very obsessive about what I write. At least, ever since I figured out how to plot my butt off - I get very OCD about finishing what I start to write. And the more time it takes for me to finish, the more I stress.
So, even though I had a great time with my friend at the Faire, once I got home, all I wanted to do was write. And on Sunday I did just that - wrote until I started confusing where what character was supposed to be.
Today, I took a day off work so I could finish what I thought was the last two chapters. My goal was 90k, I hit 94. It ended up being the last three chapters. But I did it.
In 122 days I wrote 274500 words. The first draft of my trilogy is done. I know that’s just the beginning, but at least I now have the whole story to revise.
The thing is, I binge write. What’s that you ask? I do my outlining and my plotting process. And once I start that first draft, once I start the actual writing - I can’t stop. I get grumpy and moody, angry at anything and everything that comes between me and my writing for those precious two weeks.
And when I’m finished with the draft, I take a break and don’t write at all for a couple of weeks. So far, I’ve only been able to binge on one project at a time.
Now I’m faced with the prospect of revising my trilogy. It feels strange not to be jumping back into outlining and plotting. And I have yet to find out what I’m like when I revise. Maybe I’m also a binge reviser - who knows.
But I’m looking forward to finding out.
How do you write? Do you write in huge, do nothing else binges? Or just a little at a time? Do you work on more than one thing at once? Or multiples?
Don’t forget to check out Rach’s 2nd Campaign challenge entries! Vote for the ones you like. I’m #17 if you haven’t read it yet.