Writing From the Inside

So I tried a little experiement. I call it the Coffee Shop experiment. In it, I go to a coffee shop to write. It’s gotta be a local one, not a chain, and it should have good solid tables for all the words I’m going to be creating on it. I acutually did this yesterday, but I’m posting the word count today, just to keep track. I went to a place I think is called Ziggi’s but don’t quote me on that one. I did not bring my laptop, even though they have wifi, instead I brought a fountain pen and a stack of paper. Romantic, right? The ink didn’t get everywhere like it sometimes does, but my hand sure ached. I’m more used to writing on the computer these days.

So I didn’t write a lot, only 821 words, none of them blistering, but I did write. Since I did job hunting stuff this morning, and blitzed on that, tomorrow I’ll go to the coffee shop again and try it out. Again. This time I’ll bring my character list, because, crap, I forgot their names. These are secondary characters and I think they are pissed at me for not really knowing who they are because they are all blending together in one pasty faced lump.

So today, I did what I said I was going to do. I worked on my novel. I wrote a blisteringly 731 words, in about an hour. I just connected one scene to the next is all, but at least it was a STEP. In the right direction. I’m going for a walk now, feeling very proud of myself.

The novel has nothing to do with fandom, and is a historical drama set in Victorian London. I’ve always been obsessed with that era, with the repression that sat right underneath the holier-than-the-poor-unwashed folk, and the filth and the general hubbub. You go to London today, and you see smatterings of it, the class separation which seems to be still going on strong. So the story is about that a bit, and the filth, and the shoes. I’m obsessed with Victorian footwear, go figure.

Anyway, 731 words. Horray for me! (To date, the story already has 100,000 words, so I’m looking to double that for the rough draft.)