Pernell Rogers – Writer

Hi all! I haven’t posted an update lately because I’m editing – a never-ending task, but very rewarding. My collection is still with my editor, and I’m editing the first draft of the third story in my ‘An Unexpected Evil’ series. This first draft surprised me.

I tried something different during editing this time. I listened to what I wrote using MS Office Text to Voice function. Needless to say, that was a mistake. It was a mistake because I hated what I heard. Then I chose to simply read through my first draft with ProWritingAid running in the background. Only got halfway through, way too many mistakes. So, I stopped my little experiments and just read the story. Boy, did I see a lot of errors and gaps in logic, and that was in the first five pages.

So, I turned on my classical music, set my PlutoTV channel to All Aboard, and watched Norway’s train chug through their beautiful countryside while I listen to the music – all the while, my story played in my head. I think I figured out why I write better watching the train. The train is always moving forward, only making stops to pick up and let off passengers, and that’s how I view my character’s lives. If I become their eyes, they’re always moving forward, encountering tons of stimuli simultaneously, and they stop if the reason is sufficient enough.

For example, walking from a parking lot into a store requires life coming at you. The pavement in front of you will soon be behind you. The door up front, which is closed, will be opened by you, then be behind you. The movement is forward, just like life through the train’s front windows. Pretty trippy, huh? My philosophy classes are coming to haunt me.

Since I created the first draft from a pseudo-outline, it read the same way. I’m adding extra dialogue and more descriptions, which is what I should have done in the first place. Lesson learned. Take care!

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