Norman Green

HEAVY LIFTING

Sometimes writing is fun and sometimes it’s work, and like the lazy no-good slug that I am, I would much rather skip over the hard parts and get right to the stuff I like. I have done that in the past, and I’ve paid the price for it, too. I am at a critical juncture in my new project, which, for the time being, I’m calling ‘Benbow Street Hustle.’ I’ve written the opening and I’m pretty happy with what I’ve got so far. I have the next scene dancing in my head but instead of simply running with it, which would be the fun part, I am concentrating a little bit harder on plot.

Okay, a lot harder.

There are some writing teachers, Brenda Ueland for one, who advocate for the ‘let her rip’ approach. I like Ueland a lot, when I was writing my first book she dug me out of a deep funk and if you’re in need of a boost to get you going again Ueland would be a great place to start. She got me working again when what I needed, I guess, was to quit worrying and doubting myself and just pile up some pages. The thing is, I’m not sure that’s the correct approach for me at this point in time. Plus, when I’ve used this approach in the past I have been stuck with a lot of heavy lifting when it came to cleaning up the mess that is the first draft and trying to impose some order. And basically what that tells me is that you’ve got to do the work sooner or later, if I bail on it now I’m just gonna get stuck with it later on.

On the ‘Benbow Street’ project I’m trying to change my usual pattern. I think I have a decent idea of the destination, plot-wise, but I don’t want to simply settle for that, I would really like to do more of the heavy lifting beforehand. The problem is that I have never really worked this way, I’ve taken a stab at it once or twice but I don’t think I’ve ever really given it an honest shot. So, long story short, if I get stuck with a case of writer’s block for the next month, you’ll know why.

READING: I just finished ‘The Breach’ by Patrick Lee, which was terrific. I’m no reviewer but I know what I like, and Lee cost me a couple of late nights. If you like thrillers, check him out.

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