{"id":85,"date":"2009-10-28T10:52:08","date_gmt":"2009-10-28T14:52:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/?p=85"},"modified":"2016-07-12T12:22:15","modified_gmt":"2016-07-12T18:22:15","slug":"sweat-by-tim-lebbon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/sweat-by-tim-lebbon\/","title":{"rendered":"“Sweat” by Tim Lebbon"},"content":{"rendered":"
“Sweat” by Tim Lebbon<\/div>\n
Writing is hard work. I\u2019ve always said that, and I always will. It\u2019s draining and challenging, both physically and mentally, and a good writing stint leaves me tired in the same way as a good work out: ready for a rest, but content, and perhaps a little smug with the feeling that I\u2019m tired for a good reason.<\/div>\n
But sometimes, a good workout is what you need to sort out your writing.<\/div>\n
A couple of weeks ago I was moving toward the end of my current novel DAWN (I still haven\u2019t finished, but it\u2019s almost there … I\u2019ve flirted with the ending, taken it out for a drink and nice meal, and now we\u2019re back home at my place and … well, you know what comes next). But I was stuck. There were a few strands that weren\u2019t coming together to my satisfaction, and a couple of the characters seemed to have lost their purpose. I didn\u2019t like that. It made it feel as though I\u2019d lost my purpose, and that just got me pissed and irritable and I took it out on my family. I hated doing that, so I just got more pissed and…<\/div>\n
\u201cBugger off to the gym!\u201d my lovely wife Tracey said. So I did. Took my mp3 player, plugged in and switched off. I pounded out a few miles on the treadmill and then moved onto the exercise bike … and then those characters started whispering to me. They told me what they needed to do next, and a couple of plot problems reared up and sorted themselves out, and I was pedalling with a stupid grin on my face, doing my best to remember everything that had suddenly come together in my head. The story suddenly felt right again, a three-dimensional whole rather than just a few notes on a bit of paper somewhere. It felt, as any good story should, more than a sum of its parts.<\/div>\n
Stephen King once said in an interview somewhere that he\u2019s not too concerned about ideas melting away from his mind, because the good ones always stick. Doesn\u2019t work for me. I\u2019ve got the memory of a goldfish. Eh? Oh yeah. Doesn\u2019t work for me, I\u2019ve got the memory of a goldfish. So I quit the gym, sat in the changing room for ten minutes and jotted down all these ideas, the strands that led me to them and where they might steer the novel toward the conclusion. Then I had went to the sauna and steam room comfortable that I\u2019d done some good work.<\/div>\n
See? Writing is hard work. It should make you sweat, and it should tease you. Like that ending I\u2019ve just brought back from a fine meal … the music\u2019s on … it\u2019s teased me for weeks … who knows what the night may bring?<\/div>\n

“Sweat” by Tim Lebbon <\/strong><\/p>\n

Writing is hard work. I\u2019ve always said that, and I always will. It\u2019s draining and challenging, both physically and mentally, and a good writing stint leaves me tired in the same way as a good work out: ready for a rest, but content, and perhaps a little smug with the feeling that I\u2019m tired for a good reason.<\/p>\n

But sometimes, a good workout is what you need to sort out your writing.<\/p>\n

A couple of weeks ago I was moving toward the end of my current novel DAWN (I still haven\u2019t finished, but it\u2019s almost there … I\u2019ve flirted with the ending, taken it out for a drink and nice meal, and now we\u2019re back home at my place and … well, you know what comes next). But I was stuck. There were a few strands that weren\u2019t coming together to my satisfaction, and a couple of the characters seemed to have lost their purpose. I didn\u2019t like that. It made it feel as though I\u2019d lost my purpose, and that just got me pissed and irritable and I took it out on my family. I hated doing that, so I just got more pissed and…<\/p>\n

\u201cBugger off to the gym!\u201d my lovely wife Tracey said. So I did. Took my mp3 player, plugged in and switched off. I pounded out a few miles on the treadmill and then moved onto the exercise bike … and then those characters started whispering to me. They told me what they needed to do next, and a couple of plot problems reared up and sorted themselves out, and I was pedalling with a stupid grin on my face, doing my best to remember everything that had suddenly come together in my head. The story suddenly felt right again, a three-dimensional whole rather than just a few notes on a bit of paper somewhere. It felt, as any good story should, more than a sum of its parts.<\/p>\n

Stephen King once said in an interview somewhere that he\u2019s not too concerned about ideas melting away from his mind, because the good ones always stick. Doesn\u2019t work for me. I\u2019ve got the memory of a goldfish. Eh? Oh yeah. Doesn\u2019t work for me, I\u2019ve got the memory of a goldfish. So I quit the gym, sat in the changing room for ten minutes and jotted down all these ideas, the strands that led me to them and where they might steer the novel toward the conclusion. Then I had went to the sauna and steam room comfortable that I\u2019d done some good work.<\/p>\n

See? Writing is hard work. It should make you sweat, and it should tease you. Like that ending I\u2019ve just brought back from a fine meal … the music\u2019s on … it\u2019s teased me for weeks … who knows what the night may bring?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Sweat” by Tim Lebbon Writing is hard work. I\u2019ve always said that, and I always will. It\u2019s draining and challenging, both physically and mentally, and a good writing stint leaves me tired in the same way as a good work out: ready for a rest, but content, and perhaps a little smug with the feeling … Continue Reading! ““Sweat” by Tim Lebbon”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-85","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-advice-for-writers"],"yoast_head":"\n"Sweat" by Tim Lebbon - 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