Whoo hoo! I'm up to ten written notebook pages on my current WIP. Yes, it's only been 9 months since I started on the idea but stuff's actually getting written now. I'd been getting frustrated with the lack of speed but when I was cleaning off my desk this week (I only use it for computer stuff. I actually write in a notebook while curled up on my bed), I came across Five Rules for writing that I'd printed off from an Author Magazine article back in October. Rule #2 was to be patient. "Stories take time, characters take time, even sentences can take time ... There is a profound difference between procrastination and patience: one is avoiding, the other is waiting."

I've had three little voices talking to me about this story the last nine months. (You know you're a writer when you want to hear voices). One has been telling me, "You stupid fool! You know what you want to write about. Just sit down and write it!" Another has been a collage of the voices of the characters as they do stuff in the story. Their thoughts and conversations bounce around in my head much like popcorn but I'm only peering in, watching, not writing. The last voice grew out of a warning/criticism that my sister gave me about my main character early on. I wanted her to be sympathetic (something not all main characters are) and there were a number of potential land mines that crept in during my early plotting. This voice told me that it was okay to take my time, that I'd spent 6 years thinking about each of the two stories I've finished (Really? This could take SIX YEARS?). Neither of those would be what they are if I'd just forced myself to write. Struggling to be patient and taking my time with this one is paying off. It's allowed me to find both the character AND story arcs as well as the time to get to know my character much better. Last fall, I was commiserating with my sister that I new my supporting characters and motivations much better than my main. To which my sister replied, "You do? Shouldn't you know your main character the best?" Yes! And thus began the waiting game. While I've only written four pages this week (on my last novel I averaged 2-3 pages a day) I've slipped into the groove and have also been doing huge amounts of plotting. I know where these people are going and why and how they're going to get there. I don't have all the details but I now have the basic road map. All I need to do now is to crawl in bed and drive ... and continue to be patient.