My dear friend Jackie said something to me yesterday that really hit home. I was complaining about Wonderland and bemoaning that I’m pretty sure I hate it. Not the premise of the story, no. That part I’m pretty confident in. But the characters, their actions, and heck, even the setting are grating on my raw nerves lately. But then Jackie said, “If you despise Wonderland, it’s probably amazing…”

That stayed with me all day. I rolled it around in my brain, then over my tongue. I told my husband and he laughed, saying that Jackie must know me pretty well. I explored the idea of it all night (some things just stick with you) and I’ve come to the conclusion that, once again, Jackie is brilliant.

For some reason, I need to remain emotionally unattached to my characters during the first draft. If not, I get too close to see the errors in what I’ve written. With Vlad, I kept my distance for some time before falling head over fang for him. Distance is a necessity for good writing. And now with Dillon…well, I suppose I’m focusing on getting the story down–that after I get the first draft on paper (screen…whatever), Dillon and I can feel free to get a little more comfortable with one another.

It’s just a matter of pushing through to the end and letting myself write crap. Because a blank page is hard to edit.

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