A full fifth and a little more

I hesitated working on the new novel today but I couldn't resist forever. I needed to get back up on that horse after the horrendous weekend reading that awful book. The book didn't get any better and I was almost afraid to write anything of my own because I might have picked up some awful metaphor virus. I couldn't resist for long and I knew I had to get back to it, so I did. Three thousand words later I'm nearly done with chapter five. That's the kind of fifth I could get to like. At this rate I might finished the book before the end of the month and start on another one.

I have noticed that the words are flowing easily and I'm not fighting the story or the characters. That hasn't happened in a long time. What really amazes me is that it's all happening so effortlessly. I say that now but when I have to put it down for a week or two and come back to it I'm certain I'll find more flaws than I can stomach wading through. That is then and this is now.

In a way, keeping this blog and just writing without worrying about style has helped so much, that and the awful novel. After slogging through a book so heavily larded and riddled with horrid metaphors that make little sense where the writer sacrificed a story (I'm still sure there is one in there somewhere) for style and over the top descriptions and adjectives, I think I'm cured. I remember what Twain said about the word "very". Put "damn" in place of "very" and a self respecting and conscientious editor will strike it as an obscenity. Considering what obscenities flow onto the page and into the air waves every minute of every day, his advice is a little behind the times, but the sentiment is still true. I wonder if there is such a thing as trans-metaphor lard free? Okay, I just made that up but you get the idea. Adjectives have their place, as do adverbs, but a story moves better with verbs and active sentences and you don't have to think as hard.

That is all. Disperse.