DIALOGUE VERSUS NARRATION

The good news is that I still haven't missed a day of writing in the four weeks I've been at this--averaging thirty-forty minutes a session--but I noticed something today worth mentioning.

In fiction (or the fiction I've written, anyway), the scenes with two or more characters where there is much dialogue seem to flow very quickly--even if there is action or inner monologue interspersed--and fill up pages very quickly. But since this book is, essentially, a ghost story, there are parts where the main character is alone and establishing an eerie or mysterious mood is critical.

This results in a lot of narration, with very little dialogue.

This is a much slower process because I actually HAVE TO WRITE!

I hit one of these parts today where the main character is up in the middle of the night and can't sleep. He is about to have a supernatural experience, but no one else is around--hence, no dialogue. I'm going to try to throw some other things in there to break up the dense sections of text, however. On the other hand, that might be a second draft thing.

I still try to be aware of pace, though, but also seem to constantly worry
that one)I'm not writing enough and two)I'm bogging things down.

As they say in Hollywood, I guess we'll work it out in post-production.