Sunday I completed a scene in The Currency of War and realized that there was a lightness in my chest and that sense that I’d just taken a sip of champagne. I always get that feeling when a project tips over and I’m into the end game. Before this point it always feels like I’m climbing a very steep hill as I put in place all the pieces, make certain that every character’s motivations are clear and believable. And then I’m like a downhill skier gaining speed with each twist and turn as I race for the credits (as we used to say on Trek).
This is when a book is the most fun for me. The first line of a book or script is always terrifying. I pace around the office. It settle into my chair, stare at the black screen then jump up and pace again. A voice whispers “This is the book/script that will prove you have no talent. You are a fraud.” Then the reality of a looming deadline and a contract to be fulfilled fills my thoughts and I start. And once that first line is written I’m fine. I can then work at reaching my thousand word quota each day — that four pages for a novel. When I’m writing a script I aim for seven pages.
Partway through the process when you’re in the middle of a book it can feel like a slog. You’re putting in place all the pieces and handling the connecting scenes between the big moments can feel like driving across Kansas and Nebraska, and then the fun begins —
The wind is in your hair, the sharp cold is reddening your cheeks, your heart is pounding, and all the characters are riding on your shoulders and whispering — “Don’t screw it up!”
Ah, yes, I remember us all in your Trek office and Richard Danus holding the glitter-filled “dumb stick” and finishing off an Act Five plot suggestion with “mad dash for the logo.”
I believe Ira’s exact words were “And then we run for the credits.” So damn I got that wrong in my title. I think that was when we were breaking the episode we dubbed Hot Fudge Troi. Ah good times… well, not really.