Daily
I’m in the middle of A Novel First Draft in 70 Days class and have been thinking a lot about process. A while back I posted about the promises we make to our writing selves and a quote I love from the beginning of Mary Oliver’s A Poet’s Handbook about appointments with the muse.
One of the best things I’ve gleaned from the novel draft class so far has been the importance of coming to the computer each day knowing what I’m going to write. I can’t say how this will work when I get to the revision stage, but so far it’s been extraordinarily helpful in getting out that first very very rough draft.
The idea is so simple, it’s amazing that I hadn’t tried it sooner. But, as in all things, I guess, I had to be “ready” to hear it, ready to give the suggestion a try.
In a nutshell, my process so far has been this:
- Write a three sentence summary of my story – main character wants such and so; main character does this and that to get such and so; main character succeeds (or fails) to get what he wanted.
- Using these three sentences as the basis for my beginning/middle/end structure, I a) decided what the inciting event at the (end of) the beginning of the first act would be b) determined what the “black moment when all hope is lost” at the end of act two would be c) determined how my character would carry on as a result of the act two crisis moment
- Brainstorm a list of about 10 sequenced cause/effect events that could serve as the initial skeleton of my story.
From this very rough outline, I sat down at my computer each night and made a rough plan of the next day’s writing. This was critical. Once I had an solid idea of what I was writing about, the next day’s 1500 words were relatively easy to handle.
The key was knowing in a general way what I was going to be writing so that I never had to face my computer without an idea to get me going.
As a picture book writer, this has been one hugely helpful tip to free me from the worries of tackling something as daunting as a novel.
Another key: I allowed myself to write without rewriting. I just put down the words, writing the scene as I had envisioned and planned for it the night before. Things often changed as I wrote, but I never had to face the page without some sort of a plan.
The result? A finished draft. Rough. Very rough. Terrible in so many ways. Like a big huge block of stone, really. But at this stage of the game, that works for me. I know it for what it is. A horrible first draft. One of many more to come.
I’ve set aside the story for a week or so while I work on something else. When I go back to it though, I’ll make notes and begin the process again. Adding to the outline, writing new scenes, cutting those that don’t pull the story forward.
The time for fine-tuning will eventually come, and hopefully, by then, I’ll have chiseled away at enough drafts so that I really and truly know my characters, know their stories and am ready for the logical/editing side of my brain to take hold.
