Got any waterproof matches?

We've been back from vacation for a few days now and it's time to get back to work. Even though I didn't write much while I was away, I thought about my story a lot. I didn't remember exactly where I left off, so I spent a little time reading back a few pages to pick up the story flow.

I don't generally edit in the middle of the first draft. For me it's better to simply plunge ahead; get the basic plot down, get the characters introduced, and let them wander off to see if they lead someplace interesting, like some dark alley. I figure there's plenty of time, once the loose structure is set, to go back and fill in the the stuff that's missing. You know; what they wore, what they ate, if they had a dagger in their boot as well as a gun in their pocket.

I have to say this first draft is very spare compared to earlier ones. In some ways that's good. There's not a lot of excessive adjectives and adverbs to cut out. But in some places it's economical to the point of downright stinginess. More than once I found myself wondering where the action was taking place. Were they at home, the office, under Niagara Falls?

I definitely need to remember the lessons of my summer vacation. Pause for a moment and look around, then write it down. Otherwise my poor villain will be struggling to light a match on the Maid of the Mist.

Status: 10,000 words, 70,000 to go.