Is It Wrong to Say I "Flirt with my Writing?"

I’ve been thinking a lot about reading vs. writing. And not so much “writing” writing, as habits with writing.

When my wife reads she reads in great big chunks of time. She’ll buy a book and start reading and in less than 48 hours she’s done. If it’s the weekend the time to finish is closer to twenty four hours. Years ago she started The Davinci Code on Friday night and was done by Saturday at noon. The only book that was able to break this pattern was Les Miserables, which was her “commitment book” (see here) in that it took her several months to complete.

I’m a bit of speedy reader too . . . well, if not speedy than greedy. I turn off most everything else that is going on and any spare time I find goes to reading. I’m not as fast as my wife, but I’m fairly dedicated.

When I was a part of a local writing club and worked with a local editor, they all proposed that I print out each chapter of my book and read it aloud to hear what it sounded like. This didn’t last long. Firstly, I don’t like reading out loud unless it is too my little sons. Secondly, I don’t read books aloud. Why should I read my own work aloud to see how it sounds when in every case (I feel quite certain) no one who buys my books (insert plug for my books here and here) will read it aloud.

What’s funny is that I read in great big chunks, so I naturally believe that I should write in great big chunks. I don’t. I don’t at all. Except for NaNo (see here), where I write fifty thousand words in a month (all of which seem to get rewritten in the following months and years) I usually barely write a chapter at a time. So my writing style and habit is the exact opposite of my reading styles and habits. I wonder how many other writers find this same disparity exists between their reading and their writing.

Just as I said in previous posts that writing a novel is a lot like road marching (see here), it’s also a lot like eating an elephant . . . the best way to do it is lots of little bites. I’m sure that there are many writers out there who can just churn out chapter after chapter after chapter in one big go, much like my wife reads. I find that I am a tinkerer, a bit of a flirty writer. I start here and work a bit, then I remember that I wanted to add something in that previous chapter so I dash over there for a bit, then I realize that I need to add a clue in chapter thirty-three, so I’m off to do that.

This latest novel that I’m writing, Vapor Trail, is the most flirty yet. I churned it out in NaNo, but since then I’ve thrown out the entire NaNo effort and have completely rewritten the entire novel. There are new characters, new settings, new plot lines. There isn’t a thing about that first draft that could be found in this final draft.

I used to read one book on the craft of writing for every four novels I read (see here). I may need to re-institute that rule. I’m curious if everyone writes in this or a similar manner, and whether this is the way it is if you’re a part time writer as I am or a full time writer. I imagine that those lucky few who are full timers are sitting at their desks just banging away all day. I don’t know if I could do that so for now I stick with flirty.