Natasha Fondren

I just realized: I have time to write slowly. My writing speed slowed down drastically this last year, but only because I was so distracted by the studio and stress and life.

I write better if I “only” have to think about my story. Then I can get distracted, and I know where to pull myself back to. Before, if I got distracted, I had to spend time trying to figure out which task, out of the thirty-some on my list per day, I should pull my attention to.

Oddly enough, the realization that I have time to write slowly makes me want to write faster.

It’s that I want more time to tinker.

When I first wrote, I remember spending an hour tinkering with a paragraph, changing a word here or there, seeing how different word choices effected the whole. I remember grinning at my computer screen, I was having so much fun.

When did I stop grinning while writing?

I know part of it is that I’ve gotten quicker at picking the right word. But there are other things to tinker with, and I want to play again. I’ve been tinkering with plot a lot, lately, and my lines have suffered. It feels, sometimes, like I’m standing over my work with binoculars, going in and out for the small view and the big view. I need more time with the small view.

I used to love deadlines, but now I hate them. I want to get so ahead, that I never have to worry about them again.

So what have you been tinkering with, lately?