Close, but so far away

I am only 3 or 4 chapters from finishing the first draft of the novella I started last month. I have worked on little else and it still looks like I have done amazingly little. I am hoping that I have very little editing to do (ha!) because of my efforts.

So far I am still liking it. It has kept my attention and I think the characters seem real enough, although a little bit of time away might reveal some huge flaws that I am not seeing now.

I am trying several different things with this book that I haven't done in my other attempts (two of which I am planning on editing when I am done with this draft)
1. I don't think this has anything to do with my writing but formatting. I am using a different word processing program. It is called OpenOffice and it seems to be a pretty good program so far. Before this I was using microsoft Works. It is basic but does the job. At least with the new program I can read .doc files.

2. I am breaking into chapters. I know this sounds weird, or maybe not, but before I just wrote through the breaks. This time I am inserting them. It gives me more flexibility in seeing where I have been.

3. I am not trying to write as much. It is much tighter (it is a novella, I know), but I am leaving stuff to fill in the blanks later. I am not waiting around for inspiration. This has sped up the writing process considerably. It has also made for some very short chapters which I am looking forward to fleshing out later.

This has all made for a very enjoyable writing experience. It has also gone remarkably fast. I still think I can finish this draft this week. Just a few days after my initial self-imposed deadline.

Now, if I am going to finish this beast I had better stop blogging and get to work.

Happy St. Pat's Day! I will be sure to enjoy a brew for all of you that don't drink (I don't know how many that is so I will have to estimate ;) )