I didn’t really feel like I wrote much, but apparently I did. I ended up with over 1,000 words today. The story flowed well, the action was heightened, and I was able to get some of the past into the present.

There is always that question for me: how do I want this to be read, which is a version of how will my reader read this? Or would this provide the best reading experience? It’s not that I’ll change a story to fit what someone wants to read, but I wouldn’t want to overdue certain things like description or dialogue, knowing a reader might get bogged down in that area. It’s not story detail I change, it’s how I present it so that not only does it read better, but the story is taken in how I want it to be taken in.

Obviously too, the reader will perceive a story and everything in it based off their lives and their perception, but as a writer it’s my job to try to do the best job I can in conveying it. So it’s met with a middle ground in that case I suppose. I meet the reader where they meet me and the story I’ve told. Then it ends up being read by them the closest to how I intended it to be told. Does that make sense at all? lol

What’s the quote, a story begins in the writer’s mind and ends in the reader’s. Something like that. A story has two people. The writer. The reader. I can try to tell it as best as I can, but at the end of it all, how you read it will be up to you. I like that though. We all have unique thoughts and perceptions. So with a story that has depth and a lot of meanings, I can read it one way, you can another, someone else still another. It’s why I don’t focus on genre. I focus on story. Even if it’s not a genre you read, I’d hope you give it a try to see if you like it. And I don’t just mean my books.

Many stories out there can be read by people who aren’t “genre” readers, and they will still work. I read books that are more military based and though the description may bore me a bit, the story itself is readable if it’s a good one. Because I see past the genre. I do understand there are those people out there (readers) who are adamant about “no spaceships” in their reads or “I can’t stand horror,” and I can appreciate that certainly. I don’t go for gore. But I think we limit ourselves too much at times based on what we may or may not like. It’s good to still remain open and try something five or ten years later that we haven’t in a while, or never have before.

Our tastes change. Right now I’m thinking of the book I’m reading. Clive Cussler’s Medusa. I remember reading a Dirk Pitt novel, Sahara, as a teen. I was not into the technical aspects at all. I’d skip pages to avoid it. Now? Doesn’t bother me as much. I don’t usually skip those pages. I read it and unless tired, it doesn’t faze me like it used to.

Back to the story and combining past and present. There are a million rules and how to do its for writing back story into a piece of work. There are millions of voices with advice. Personally, I like a more real life balance for my stories and writing. We all at some point in time or other, flashback on things. We remember events. We think daily on past conversations that happen even an hour ago potentially. It’s human nature to do it.

So what I tend to feel more guided to do in this work is similar to what I usually do, in that I allow the characters to have moments where they think about a past event as a present one or consider a past event to decide on a present.

Today’s writing as example could be when Kenley’s brother reminded her of a dealing with the past Alpha. Or back then it was one of the Alphas. Because of his words she’s thrown back in that moment, just like any of us would be, and she relives it. I merge that into the conversation they’re having, but in her mind she’s reliving the events as she talks to him. For me I think it’s a more natural flow to a story that way because which one of us doesn’t slip back into a past moment in time (heck I do it right as I type this) in our mind as we’re conversing sometimes? Or it that just me?

Starting to get into the thick of things now.

Today’s numbers for Savage Lands.

Started with – 5,161 words

Ended with – 6,291 words

Total words written today – 1,130