Discoveries

I am way too nice to my characters the first time around. I'm noticing this with just about every piece I revise. My drafts have little tension. The major conflicts are there, but I don't pull the rug out from under people enough.

I guess it's good that I have to give conscious thought to making life difficult for people. My family always thought I came by it naturally! :)

So, now that I know this, do I try to be meaner during the first draft? Or do I just write, confident that the inventory will make me adopt a mean streak? Efficiency (getting it right the first time) means hammering out what I hate to do early on. Effectiveness (completing a draft) means just getting the story down.

I guess I'll find out in November which one I'll go with.

Procrastination--isn't it grand?!