Short and sweet

will probably describe my word count for the day.

Abby is, unfortunately, still sick, and I’m due to leave for San Antonio in just over an hour. (I’m giving a talk there this evening.) On the plus side, I did finish my bio for Ballantine, which was due today… and I may have to take a brief break (or at least slow down a bit) on Wolf 2 while I add a few more scenes to Wolf 1. Ah, editing… 🙂

Laura, a quick answer to your question; when I wrote my first book, I wrote it longhand to help quell my inner editor; then I would edit it as I typed it in. (There were times when I remember thinking ‘Please let her have fleshed out the description for this scene’ — it was almost as if there were two people writing. The writer, and the editor. Strange, really.)

Nowadays, I write and try to make it as good as possible (within reason) the first run through; then, the next day, before I start my words, I review what I wrote the day before to clean it up a bit and get back into the story. That way I’m not stuck with a huge manuscript that needs a lot of work at the end — daunting, to say the least. And I’m comfortable that almost everything I’ve done so far is relatively clean.

And Debra, I don’t know why I use word count; probably because it’s already on Word, and also because when you’ve got lots of dialogue and chapter breaks, it means fewer words on a page. Also because when I’m writing, I’m usually shooting for a word count goal (generally 75-80K); by keeping track of daily words, I have a better feel for how much story is left. Once again, though, the key is to find a system that works for you. I keep everything in one document, but I know a lot of writers who keep each chapter separate. To each his or her own!

Well, Abby’s waking up, the bunny is squeaking underfoot, and I have an hour before I have to go… more later, and keep the writing going!