Can't sleep? Write!
Actually, some of the not sleeping is because the characters have taken up residence in my head. And that can be a good thing really.
As opposed to I'm trying and trying and trying to come up with the next avenue the characters take and I've spent plenty of time doing that.
So what do I do? Keep trying to tell them to go to bed? Which ain't happening because when they're dealing with issues in the story, I can't just turn them off or tune them out. And I KNOW from past experience that if I tell myself I'll write it down when I get up in the morning, most of the time, I won't remember the scene at all. Sometimes I do.
This is who was giving me trouble last night. Doesn't she look like a real troublemaker? Well, she is!
What I've been told by writing gurus is that if you keep remembering a scene even when you don't write it down, it's not going to go away and add it to the story. But the ones I can't remember were great, too. So that's not the reason they didn't stick. I can be taking a shower and the same thing happens. I can visualize the whole scene (not in visual detail as people's features or the setting, but the dialogue and action), and when I get out of the shower, poof, it's gone. Or I'm driving somewhere and by the time I can stop, same thing.
So why does this happen? Why are some scenes so memorable that you can remember them over and over and over again until you quit delaying and write it down, and others are not?
The interesting thing is that if I wrote the scene down, usually when I reread it, I'll be like wow, I didn't remember that. It's a great scene. Great idea. Sometimes I vaguely remember them, but sometimes I really don't. So is it our subconscious speaking and it's so elusive that if we don't capture it on paper, it's lost forever?
You didn't know this writing thing could be so profound, did you?
The bottom line is that I tried to go to bed but the scenes kept coming to me so I figured, what the heck. Time to write some more.
I ended up writing a record 6,000 words on Dragon Fae. I had started out with 400 words to the story yesterday morning and didn't start writing again on it until yesterday evening as I was adding 3,000 to Highland Rake! So not too bad! In a day's work!
I'm off to type up notes and then get back to writing on Highland Rake. In the first book, Winning the Highlander's Heart, the heroine has the ability to foresee some events in the future. In The Accidental Highland Hero, no paranormal issues. In Lady Caroline and the Egotistical Earl, the heroine has a photographic memory. I always wished I could have one of those!
So in Highland Rake, the heroine sees ghosts.
Off to write! Have a super great Hump Day!
Terry
"Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy IS reality!"
www.terryspear.com