Moving and then computer troubles interfered with my novel and gave me some bad habits (like reading the news online all day).
So I got my computer fixed up, set up, and ready to go.
And still didn't use it.
I realized last night that I had broken the habit of writing every day by not doing it for 2 months, so I forced myself to open my novel and start reading.
And I was pleasantly surprised. The characters were far more round than I had feared (first drafts are plot drafts for me--I deal with the character development on the rewrites). I cleaned up some wordy sections, noted one spot that was structured so that you don't feel any intensity even though the main characters are escaping the witches, and decided my children are probably wrong--I think it's okay to explode a dog in the second chapter. (They keep saying "Can't the witch just blow it's tail off?" or "Why don't you blow up the castle full of witches instead?" or "why doesn't she miss?").
I thought I was writing lightweight, slightly comic fairytales, but it turns out that's not what I do. No matter how I start, I write action/adventure stories. Think fairytale thriller, mistaken identity, missing persons...that kind of stuff. With fairytale characters and magic. (If I try to write a play, however, it comes out surrealist comedy. Go figure.).
Anyway, it was nice to start writing again. Fun, relaxing, good.
Now if I can just finish!
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