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Cave notes redux
May. 23rd, 2005 09:30 amWhat a difference a few hours sleep and 8 ounces of caffeine make. Last night I thought that the final scene I'd written was too talky, and slow moving. This morning I read it and found that it moved lightning fast, with just enough dialogue.
Just goes to show that the lessons I learned as a programmer apply to writing as well. There comes a stage when you are too mentally drained to know whether what you have just written is sheer brilliance or a horrendous mistake that will set you back for hours/days. That's the time when you simply save the file and back away slowly, until you can look at your work with fresh eyes. The trick, of course, is recognizing when you've reached this stage-- something I learned after the second or third time one of my brilliant programming insights crashed the entire system.
Just goes to show that the lessons I learned as a programmer apply to writing as well. There comes a stage when you are too mentally drained to know whether what you have just written is sheer brilliance or a horrendous mistake that will set you back for hours/days. That's the time when you simply save the file and back away slowly, until you can look at your work with fresh eyes. The trick, of course, is recognizing when you've reached this stage-- something I learned after the second or third time one of my brilliant programming insights crashed the entire system.
