Okay, now I’m dreaming about the novel. This was not a Kubla Khan dream. This was an awful dream, a Puppies in Peril dream.
Somehow, my dreaming subconscious decided it would be a fine plot point if someone in this Oklahoma boom town decided to put puppies in bags and toss them off roofs. I don’t know why, maybe as a sacrifice to the oil gods? My dream didn’t track the progress of the puppies, it’s possible they escaped the bags and could suddenly fly.
What’s happening now is I am writing half a page a week, and making about five notes a week, because out of nowhere I’ll think of an interesting idea that may entertain someone for half a phrase. Perhaps the puppy dream is a guilt dream because I am not writing enough? Perhaps.
More probably, I find the current plot boring. Gotta jazz it up with flying puppies.
2 responses to “Rewriting the Novel: Dreams”
Half a page plus notes is still progress. I do think that with practice (and, probably, with reading things that are of the writing style you want to write like), you’ll get more adept at churning out prose of the sort you want to. I am baffled at your prior statement that your descriptions weren’t good enough, because on your blog your descriptions and turns of phrase are often golden, even when you’re describing something counterfactual (I’ll grant that some people have an easier time graphically describing something they’ve seen or that’s in front of them, while others do better with imaginary things, but you seem to have both at least somewhat covered when you’re not in novel-writing mode?).
Anyway. It sounds like you have a solid outline, so if you just get the draft *done* you can chew on pieces of the draft and add glazing layers for color. 🙂
But… maybe no rooftop puppies?
KC – now I’m committed to sacrificing some token puppy. And thank you for your nice words.