I’ve put down another three scenes in ‘Jeffries’ to round out the story into something resembling coherence. Every time I think I’m done adding something, a new thought occurs to me and I go back and add it in just as I’m expanding the story from the end to make it that much harder to add anything. I can’t figure how anybody has ever written a book as quickly as some authors do. I even have a friend who has written two complete drafts before I could finish one. Like, how???

I’ve also made some progress on a new story I’ve been steadily building up over the past few months. It was originally a world-building idea that just kept hanging around in the back of my mind while I worked on ‘Jeffries.’ I have files full of these ideas, but only a few ever keep my attention long term. Those are the ones I expand on. This one in particular was going to end up in the moratorium like all the rest, until one night I had a particularly vivid dream that filled in the characters of the world perfectly. Every once in a while it’s like lightning strikes, and two ideas come together in harmony. It feels so good it keeps me writing despite all the hard work. I’ve even got a complete plot planned out for this one, a result of all the time spent studying story structure. It’s nice to see it come together into a four-act plot from start to finish rather than going ‘I guess I’ll figure it out when I get there?’ Since it all added up before I started writing, hopefully that means I’ll have an easier time writing this book. Maybe it’ll even be quick for once. I don’t know. I guess I’ll find out once ‘Jeffries’ is complete. I’ve only done a few scenes of the new one when I get fed up with everything else I’m working on, but I’d like to think they’re pretty good so far. In any case, it’s nice to have something to look forward to.

Thank you for reading,

Benjamin Hawley