So, this weekend I was writing along, minding my own business (as well as the business of a number of imaginary people) when out of the blue, a scene hit me. I thought I had all the scenes until the end of the book planned, and I hadn't planned this one. It was just one of my rare sadistic moments when a nasty little thought came up from the depths of my subconscious -- it's like that weird impulse people who are afraid of heights sometimes get when they're in a high place, with that freaky little voice in the back of the head saying, "I wonder what it would be like if I fell" and for a split second, you're almost tempted to find out. Since I got the best aspects of the last book I wrote from going with that thought, I went with this one. I'm still not entirely sure this scene needs to be in the book, but some things came out from that scene that were interesting discoveries I want to play with, so I guess I needed to write it.
As a result, in spite of writing nearly 5,000 words on Saturday, I still didn't make it to the big scene I was planning to write. I also skipped a scene that I know needs to be there. I know what the outcome of that scene will be, and it's important for later scenes, but I don't know how that outcome is reached, exactly, and what else will happen in that scene.
I'm at about the 3/4 mark of the book, which is when the crazy starts to happen, so I get those odd little impulses like hearing someone say, "You're under arrest," in what was supposed to be a nice, heartwarming moment or having someone say, "They found a body," when it was supposed to just be ... well, I'm not sure what it was supposed to be because I never got there since I went with the impulse. It's almost like that game where you write a story in rounds, with each person adding a line, so that each person can spin the story off in a totally different direction. There's one of those essay type things that pops up in e-mail or on blogs every so often illustrating this, where the boy and the girl are having to write the collaborative story, so she keeps writing lines about having tea and talking, but then he has things like aliens attacking, and they're at war with each other over what kind of book it will be. I seem to be doing that with myself. I'll be going along with people having tea, and then suddenly shots are ringing out, people are getting arrested, the bad guys are attacking, etc.
In the Pantry Purging Project, I've now finished off some Arborio rice (risotto), more linguini, some tortellini (I love pasta), and some chicken stock (for cooking with the above). I'm at the point where I need to purchase some things in order to have the ingredients to cook with what I have left and to have balanced meals. I really need to go to the grocery store today, but am consumed by not wanting to. It's a lovely spring day so it will do me good to get out in the real world even though I'm in the creative phase where the real world is intrusive. However, I will have to wear contact lenses to drive, and it says something about the kind of weather we've had for the past many months that I've gotten out of the habit of wearing them (I mostly wear them to drive so I can wear sunglasses but can just wear glasses when it isn't sunny), so now my eyes object. I probably ought to get some prescription sunglasses so this won't be an issue.
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