Patty here...
I have around 47,000 words written in the first draft of a
new novel that I’ve been working on since dinosaurs roamed the earth. So, why
the foot-dragging? Those of you who followed our Naked blog back in the day may remember that
I used to blog a lot about my mother. She was my biggest fan and a constant source
of entertainment for me.
The two of us on a book tour in rainy Seattle
My mother died in August 2010. Shortly afterward, I put the
manuscript in a drawer where it moldered for a very long time. Just so we’re clear, I’m not using my
mother’s death as an excuse for abandoning the book, and I don’t feel guilty
for my self-imposed writing hiatus, either. Lots of people are quitters and
very little harm comes to them because of it.
Recently, I took the manuscript out of the drawer and started
working on it again. Forty-seven thousand words aren’t enough words to please
most publishers. There are scenes missing, but I know what they are, where they
go, and why they are important to the story. The good thing about a sh***y
first draft is that nobody expects it to be brilliant. It’s merely a first
attempt to commit the story to paper. What I call “texture” (setting and
character details) can be layered into subsequent drafts.
Since I’m so close to the end, one would think I’d be eager
to finish. Right? Not so much. Lately, I’ve been thinking about why I don’t
just get on with it. For one thing, the book is a departure from my previous four
novels. This one is written in third person, not in first
and it’s darker in tone. For those reasons, it’s almost as though I’m writing a
first novel. Are these the thoughts of a great thinker or an inveterate slacker? Hard to say.
I’ve also been reading a lot lately. Sometimes when I finish
a brilliant novel with breathtaking prose I wondered why I ever bothered to
type Chapter One. Why try to compete with that sort of perfection? We’ve all
been awestruck by a first novel written by an unknown author that lands on top
of every best-seller and awards list. Congratulations, but I’m betting that
book wasn’t the first draft, maybe not even the tenth draft. Somewhere in the
author’s bottom desk drawer is a sh***y first draft. Just like mine.
Self-editing is the easiest part of the writing process for
me. Creating is torture. I force myself to ignore dangling participles and
forgive bad metaphors, knowing I can fix all that later. My job is to tell a
compelling story one word at a time. If I’m in the middle of a scene and I
can’t think of anything entralling, I write [car chase here] or [two knuckle-draggers with
guns storm the restaurant]. Then I move on.
Or sometimes I just take a nap.
Or sometimes I just take a nap.
Or check the refrigerator for leftovers.
I hate deadlines but I’m better at getting things done when
I have one. My current goal is to type THE END by June 1. Anybody else out there
with a partially finished sh***y first draft that’s collecting dust in a
drawer? Are you up to the challenge? Remember, nobody but you will ever read
this version. We can do it. I know we can. All we have to do is pay attention and
keep putting words on the page. One. Word. At. A. Time.
And when we're done, it's going to feel so good.
And when we're done, it's going to feel so good.
Happy Monday and Write on!
