Today, I needed to introduce a new element in my magic system, so I was searching through the notes section in Scrivener to find that part. In the process, I stumbled on the setting cards and minor character descriptions that I’d started writing earlier in this book and then completely forgotten about while my computer was dead.
One of the things that has ground my writing speed down lately has been the need to stop and come up with descriptions on the fly – of people and places. If I’d written those setting cards in advance, that might have helped. Not necessarily because I’d be referring to the cards, but rather because I would be more likely to remember having written them and not need to.
Today’s seen was a little too introspective and in my character’s head again. What was supposed to be a short segue into the action has instead rolled into a mini-scene of nearly 600 words. I might need to separate that from the main scene here with a transition, but I’m not sure yet. I’ll give it some thought today as I’m writing, but my last scene with my hero ended up doing the same thing – I started with just her and what was on her mind before getting into the actual action of the scene. I’m worried that structure is not going to be very effective.
But for now, I really do need to remember that this is a first draft and I just need to get the story down.