Meet My New Pal, Pressure

I ran into the first major hurdle since starting work two months ago on the third Boss MacTavin novel.  As you may recall, this is the first time I've drafted a book start to finish without stopping to rewrite every batch of fifty pages.  I was going  great guns and grooving on the difference when I came to a critical juncture.  Following the outline, I'I faced a heap of exposition that needed to be done.  I froze.  I couldn't kill the action, but I had to take care of this business.

In one form or another, I'm sure you've all faced the same thing.  Suddenly, faced with your Wall, you feel your confidence start to collapse...

I write by hand.  I always have.  That day though, out of nowhere, an idea occurred to me:  What if I changed the way that I wrote by hand?  What if I wrote more slowly, applying a little more pressure, getting into the feel of the tip of the pencil burrowing into the Moleskine?  I did.  The pressure forced me to concentrate on every word, savoring the language.  And at one point I paused to note that if I wrote only 6 words a minute, I'd meet my quota of 500 words in a little over an hour.  No need to hurry or worry.  None at all.  I ended up writing 1200 words and getting well over the hurdle.  And, for now at least, I keep on working at the same more relaxed speed.  

New foot work, new hand work, whatever it takes to get our books on paper, eh?