Writing Log: 9-3-09

(Got a very late start today. L needed to use my computer to work at home for a bit and I had to mow the lawn. But otherwise I just procrastinated.)

Started writing at 11:30 am

Finished first draft of chapter 2, Section 3 (which is going to be its own chapter at this point). 1180 words

Got most of the way through first draft of Chapter 3, section 1 (also likely to be a short chapter). 1785 words.

Wrote for roughly 2.5 hours overall.

All in all, another productive day. Lots of dialogue in these two chapters. Got mixed responses on my dialogue at the workshop. Not sure if it bogs down the pace too much or not. But I like it, so for now it stays.

I've noticed that aside from specific, very colorful descriptions of people and places that pop into my head and get written down quickly, for the most part I write out the dialogue and/or action for any given scene with little regard to the physical surroundings.

I expect to go back over the first draft and add in bits of description to flesh out the full environment that the characters are operating in.

I'm pretty happy with the style and imagery of those color descriptions, but less comfortable with how well I describe the look of more generic places. I think that as a person I really just do not notice a lot of mundane physical stuff in my own environment and I don't actually know a lot of the words that people use for different types of clothing and architecture. I suppose I notice things mainly when they are unusual or I'm consciously trying to relax and just soak in my surroundings. Otherwise I'm either watching people or lost in my own little world. I've tried to collect some useful references, but it is too tiring and distracting to keep checking these as I write. So I hope to go over the rough draft with this sort of thing in mind.