I am speechless, but not wordless

A writer's headway through a work in progress is measured in words. Some of us may talk in terms of scenes completed, chapters finished, heroic steps completed, but on the oh-so-important, oh-so-ugly first draft, it's word count that gives us proof that we are moving forward. We set a daily goal. promise ourselves that we won't let anything get in the way of accomplishing that goal, and then we write. Sometimes the words flow and we fly by the number. More often, for first timers at least, the words aren't so readily at our fingertips, and we check the word count every sentence, even though we know we can't be close. I set my goal, at what I think are an attainable number, but the days I don't make goal are more often than the ones that I do make them. Not making the goals has never made me want to quit writing, however, and so I slog on. That's what this post is about - the cumulative value of slogging on.


This weekend, I added up all the chapters and scenes I've written for my two novels. To say that I was pleasantly surprised is an understatement of massive proportions.

Suclimation - 50132 words
Circus Freak - 53519 words

Excuse my repetition from the last post, but I have to say it again - I AM A WRITER.

Neither book has reached the halfway point, but considering how much will be taken out by editing, I have a very good start. Most importantly (this akes me smile, every time I think it), I am too far in to give up. My "babies" deserve to grow up.

Getting my characters to talk

Anyone who writes will understand the frustration of being psyched up about sitting down to work and discovering that at least one of the characters you planned to work with is not speaking to you at that moment. Of course, the “right” thing to do is to plow on, make that character work for you. After all, they belong to us, not the other way around, right? My problem is I’m not a very tough boss. When I was an actual boss person, I was awful at telling people to do something they didn’t want to do. I was always trying to find ways to make them want to do the work, possibly even enjoy it, and often ended up doing the work myself rather than have an unhappy employee. I’m the same with my characters. I’m not good at making them do things or say things that don’t feel right, even though I know I can fix it in a later draft when they do come around for a more productive visit. I want them to be happy now. (Not that all my characters are happy people. Some are true bastards. One is in a terribly dysfunctional relationship and knows it. But, they’re in situations of their own making, and that's close enough to happiness for this fiction writer.)

All of this prelude is in explanation of what I’m about to post. It’s a tried and true exercise that I’ve found works well for me as a way to a character talking, because, they, like real people, love to talk about themselves. It's the well known Questions segment from “Inside the Actor’s Studio”. Today it also serves to introduce a major character from one of my novels in progress, working titled “Sucklimation”. (It’s not a vampire story. The word suck in the title refers to something lower on the human male anatomy. And it’s not porn, either.)

Michael (An artist going through mid-life crisis at the same time he meets a new muse who comes with more baggage than Michael wants to carry)
What is your favorite word?
Roundabout
What is your least favorite word?
Bottom line
What turns you on?
Finding that one tiny mark that keeps something from being perfect
What turns you off?
Too much hunger for anything. Passion is good, but when it becomes a hunger, that’s too needy for me. You could call it addiction, but that wouldn't be quite right.
What sound do you love?
Silence
What sound to you hate?
Chewing
What profession other than yours would you attempt?
Chef
What profession would you not like to participate in?
Chambermaid
What is your favorite curse word?
Bedamn. I don't use swear words.
If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the pearly gates?
“You were right, it really didn’t matter what you believed, it was all about how you lived.”