Project Dark Voices is a story that I’ve been mulling around in my head for a while now. So, as part of NaNoWriMo / The Rough Draft Challenge throughout November, I set a goal to see if I could write 25,000 words, which wouldn’t be the complete story, but would basically be a goal that wasn’t NaNoWriMo’s 50K in 30 days struggle. I did reach my word count 25K goal and have continued to write throughout December. So far, my word count sits at 40,958 words, even if it’s still the initial rough draft.
I have three main threads in the story and I only worked on Theme 1 during November, my MC’s major problem, but they have two other problems that are intertwined they have to deal with, and so far during December I’ve been branching out into Theme 2. Theme 3 really provides some background for the other two themes, as its role is a minor one, but it does get resolved. It really serves to be the “surprise” plot twist linking Themes 1 and 2.
Enough on Project Dark Voices. I wanted to talk about Writing Habits. For a while I have been considering the merits of writing groups over writing locations. My thoughts are that if you make the effort to write somewhere different, then you are likely to be more productive, more creative. I haven’t had a lot of luck with writing groups in the past, and they can bring an overhead of having to do “homework” in the form of a critique /a series of them, or writing a piece for a monthly theme that may also distract you from your main manuscript. But then on another level, they can also serve as a mechanism to connect to fellow writers. In the end I decided to go places and sit and write in public, get words down on the page as that what is most important for me right now. I have twice tried to get a seat within the Mortlock Library in Adelaide, upstairs amongst the books. It’s a beautiful location, but it is a journey for me, and both times all of the desks were full. Nearby, downstairs in the Barr Smith library, however, I have managed to do that several times, and that also is a beautiful library / location to write in, but again, it has been an effort to get there.
I was set on the beautiful Barossa Valley and surrounds as a possible writing location, and did try the Nuriootpa and Lyndoch libraries, but even with their beautiful locations, they don’t have the soul of the Mortlock or Barr Smith libraries in Adelaide. One that comes very close, however, is the reading room in the Gawler library, as it is an old stone building built in 1870 with high ceilings, large windows, and then walls have enormous old oil paintings on them.
I’m yet to try a café, as the concept of outstaying my welcome / hording a table a new paying customer would want to use, worries me. I’m sure there’s some café etiquette there but if anyone knows of welcoming café’s that are happy to indulge eccentric writers in Adelaide and surrounds, then let me know. I did notice a café in Dymocks in the Mall, recently when I was there, but will save those comments for another blog post where I talk about a new book I bought to read at the time. For now, here are some photos of the Gawler Institute. Each time I’ve been sitting in a different spot, so you can see I’ve been a few times in the last two months.
