Writing Log: 9-17-09

Tried again to begin the story at Chapter 1. Wrote for about an hour. 715 words.

Still not working very effectively. Running into a conundrum.

In my nonfiction writing, I have pretty clear goals and rules limiting what I can do. For my fiction writing, when I map things out that carefully, I start to lose interest in writing the story. When I don't map things out carefully, I go off on tangents.

Got to think things through a bit more. Might write out some short character biographies that I should have sketched out before. Look over the current outline a bit more, figure out a few more details about where the story is starting now.

Here's the crux of it: if I'm not getting paid, why write unless I enjoy the process of writing in some fashion? The more I try to professionalize my creative writing, the less enjoyable it becomes. Haven't found a good method yet.

Pulled all the "How to Write" guides off my bookshelf and stuck them out of the way. Going to try to figure out what works for me, if anything.