As I said in a previous post, I recently began work on my newest version of The Dreamcatchers. For those who are new here, you might want to go over to the convenient search bar I put in for you on the right side of the page and type “The Dreamcatchers” into it. I’ve written about it a great deal in the past, so you should be able to become quite the expert on this particular book of mine.
Rewriting this book (again) has been a very difficult job for me. I keep starting and restarting, never liking anything I write. It seemed like I was never going to get my footing. And then the SCBWI conference came. I really do have to apologize to Nikki Grimes because I missed half her speech. I also have to thank her because something about hearing her speech must have been what inspired me to start writing. My notebook was open in my lap, my purple pen ready, and when inspiration struck, it struck hard. I wrote nearly 5,000 words in a day, all in that notebook. At first I thought I’d transfer what I wrote in the notebook to my computer and then continue the book on Word. But I found that I was too tempted to edit when I was on Word. I was even more inclined to overthink what I was about to type before I typed it. So I went back to the notebook. Lo and behold, more words came.
That is how I stumbled upon my strategy for getting this book written. Write and write – by hand – without editing. Get it out, get it on paper. Don’t go back and reread until the whole book is done.
Paper rambling.
This is not my usual style. But it seems to be working for me, and I’d be willing to share a bit of the process but it has to wait until the book is done. Otherwise how can I do a Before and After? In other words: I’m writing. It’ll take a while. But I’m going to share some of my writing when it’s done.
That’s all for now!
This comic took me hours to draw, so you’d better appreciate it.
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