A taste of the style I'm attempting.

Got a call late in the afternoon from Linda reminding me that we had writer's group.

Printed up some chapters of Led to the Slaughter and took them and read them.  I've now read about 40% of the book in group.

This after being cloistered inside for the last few weeks writing another book.  I was surprised to realize that I've written more words on this new book (Rule of Vampire) than I did on the last finished book, and still have several chapters to go.

I get shut in for so long concentrating on one thing that going outside and seeing all the movement and bright lights almost makes me dizzy.  This seems to be the way I write effectively, so there is no getting around it.  I think it was particularly heavy on me this week because I took most of my working days last week and handed them over to my employees.

Lots of doubts about what I'm doing.  And why I'm doing it and whether it matters.

Anyway, I read the chapters and I noticed a few things.

1.)  Enough time has passed between writing the chapters and reading them that the "glow" that comes from having written the words had worn off.  So -- I have less emotional connection than usual.  It seemed very dry to me -- uninspired.

2.) The words flowed very smoothly and cleanly.  Not a whole lot of awkward sentences. 

3.) I was attempting a very matter of fact style and I accomplished that.  Of course, in the scene where the eight oxen escape leaving them stranded, it seemed strange that the characters didn't react more.  So this matter of fact style may need to be livened up once in a while.

4.) While it wasn't a 'word jumble' it also wasn't something I could see very clearly.  I was depending on the listeners to give me their estimation and they seemed to think I'd hit some kind of 'groove.'


I think that my actual writing is becoming more polished just because I've been doing so much of it.   I think my working habits have become very effective.  I think that I've got the proper emphasis on story.

So, again, it is the rewriting that needs to be improved.  That is, going back and upping my game just a little.

Here's a paragraph that the readers seemed to like last night:

"As we descended the mountains it was as if we fell into the deepest regions of hell.  The heat sucked the breath from our bodies.  Turned our clothes wet with perspiration and then dried them to a stiff salty crust.  The oven evaporated what little energy we had left and melted our very spirits.  The wagons sank into the salts of the lake in the blistering heat.  At night, we froze."

That gives you a taste of the style I'm attempting.