Walking, talking and tightening the story

One view of downtown

Well, 3 1/2 weeks and 714 words since our last update, we are feeling the progress. We’re finding we progress nicely when we’re on our walks. Although 714 words isn’t much, the story is tightening up. Our characters are developing and the book seems to have a lot of dialogue

A rule of thumb that we are making every effort to adhere to is, “Show, don’t tell.” We’ve heard this from most, if not all, authors who give advice. For whatever reason, this rule has been relatively easy for us to follow. Since we like to read books and stories that seem to follow this rule of writing, the rule flows more easily. Notice how I used the word ‘rule’ so many times in such a short paragraph? Read this post: Writing sensibly and repeating words.

Getting out of the house and walking downtown is a nice release. The pressures of work, school, peers and life in general are lifted when we walk. Our town is small, clean, and well-preserved and maintained by residents and business people.

There’s a little homeless guy that walks around town. At first he avoided eye contact, but I went out of my way one day to say “hi” to him. Now when we pass each other, he looks our way in at least semi-eager expectation, waiting for the friendly voice. Not that we’re the only people in town who greet him; it’s just a small look we’ve noticed.

So in walking, some days we will discuss the book exclusive to everything else. After two to three miles, we’re back at home and my spirit is renewed and I’m ready to write. It’s become nearly unnecessary to count words lately because the progression of the story is measured by many other factors. We may have only a net 714-word gain in three weeks, but it’s a price we’re willing to pay right now for the quality of writing and the tightness of the story.

Tags: collaboration, discussion, editing, motivation, quality