At the end of last week, I'd just finished reading a book by the founder of National Novel Writing Month, and I was set to write my own novel with no advanced knowledge of the plot, characters, or anything else. All I had was an idea. The adrenaline rush was supposed to drive me to average 1667 words a day for 30 days. It sounded like fun. I was up for the challenge.
Bear in mind that I've attempted to write novels without outlines before. It's never ended well. I get a few chapters in and the creativity runs dry. It's frustrating to sit at my desk and not know what's coming next. I know many writers love that feeling, but it sucks the fun out of the process for me. And I believe there should be fun in the process. After all, if you, as an author, hate writing the novel, why should a reader enjoy reading it? That level of passion (or lack thereof, in this case) will shine through.
Now, a week after telling myself that this time will be different--this time I'd zip through the story, discovering everything as I go, and have a blast while doing it--reality has set in. The blank page mocks me. My pen sits in my hand, spitting out taunting thoughts, informing me the only ink that will come out will take my story, my characters, and everything about the process, in an entirely wrong direction. It's not fun, and I'm sure my prose back that up. So I'm calling a halt to my personal NaNoWriMo quest.
Do I feel like a failure? Maybe a tiny bit, but to tell you the truth, I feel more victorious than anything. Why? I've discovered, without a shadow of a doubt, what works best for me. I can't write anything longer than a short story from the seat of my pants, but that's okay. I've crafted three novel-length manuscripts using outlines, and I'm proud of all three. I think they're each quite good. (*Massive self-promotion break* You can judge for yourself on one of them--I've self-published Way Over the Line, and you can click here to get it and see if my pride is deserved or not. *Self-promotion break over--you may return to the regularly-scheduled blog post*)
So what's next? I believe in this story that I started, so I'm going to stop writing it and stat plotting. I'm going to flesh out the characters so they'll begin to speak to me. Then, when I can see where everything is going, I'm going to put the words down on paper. And this time I'm going to have fun doing it.
"Nice story," you might be saying. "Thanks for the insight into your writing life, but so what? What does it have to do with me?" No worries, I can tell you what it has to do with you. Learn where your comfort zone is. Discover if you're a plotter or a pantser (or a healthy mix in between). Discover how you write best. Because when it's all said and done, no matter what writing books and your peers say, one way of writing is not superior to any other. The best way to write is whatever works best for you. Try both ways and a combination of both. You'll swing and miss a few times, but once you find the sweet spot, you'll bring joy into your writing. And that's what it's all about. Have fun with the process, and your readers will see that.
Showing posts with label writing process. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writing process. Show all posts
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
How I Write My First Draft
Click here to view a list of my earlier writing posts
How I Write My First Draft
After my outline is set, I'm ready to get down to the nitty-gritty process of writing the first draft of the novel. I do this with pen and paper instead of on my computer's word processor. This is for a couple of reasons. First, I enjoy the process much more, and I find if I'm having fun, the words come out better (both in quality and quantity). Second, when I type out what I've written onto my computer, I use that step as a first pass-through in the revision process. I don't make any big changes, but I'm able to clean up sloppy wordings, punctuation, and grammar. This saves me a bit of time later when I'd rather be focusing on fixing the story.
The first draft process is basically nothing more than following my outline. I make sure to keep a notebook open next to me so I can jot down notes that will both help in later chapters as well as in the revision process. Mostly these notes are names I come up with while writing: secondary and other minor characters, places, things important to the story, etc. I also take notes on ideas I have which will improve the story overall. If I haven't yet come to that part, I'll add the notes to my outline after my writing session is done for that day. Sometimes I can simply jot the note down on the appropriate 3x5 card, while other times I'll need to redo a number of cards.
if I come up with changes to parts of the manuscript I've already written, I don't go back and fix it during the first draft stage. I'll simply jot down what needs to change and make those corrections/improvements in the revision process. In the meantime, I continue writing as if those changes have already been implemented. The most important thing in my mind is to get the first draft down on paper. As long as my notes tell me where I began writing as if the changes were in place, it's easy enough to both fix it later without worrying that the story won't work.
For the most part, that's it. As long as i did a good job in the outlining stage, the first draft should run smooth. Of course there are always days where the words flow better than others, but as long as I stick to my outline, I know I'll get through the first draft sooner rather than later. I also keep in mind that overall first drafts are terrible. Sure, on the whole they're good stories with many instances of sparkling writing, but they're also filled with sloppy wordings, cliches, and many other mistakes. That's fine, as I've learned to, for the most part, keep my inner editor at bay during this. I believe first drafts aren't meant for anyone but the author. I don't share my novel with anyone until well into the revision process, but more on that later.
And speaking of the revision process, I'll begin discussing what I do next week. Check back next Wednesday for that. Until then, keep writing and/or reading.
How I Write My First Draft
After my outline is set, I'm ready to get down to the nitty-gritty process of writing the first draft of the novel. I do this with pen and paper instead of on my computer's word processor. This is for a couple of reasons. First, I enjoy the process much more, and I find if I'm having fun, the words come out better (both in quality and quantity). Second, when I type out what I've written onto my computer, I use that step as a first pass-through in the revision process. I don't make any big changes, but I'm able to clean up sloppy wordings, punctuation, and grammar. This saves me a bit of time later when I'd rather be focusing on fixing the story.
The first draft process is basically nothing more than following my outline. I make sure to keep a notebook open next to me so I can jot down notes that will both help in later chapters as well as in the revision process. Mostly these notes are names I come up with while writing: secondary and other minor characters, places, things important to the story, etc. I also take notes on ideas I have which will improve the story overall. If I haven't yet come to that part, I'll add the notes to my outline after my writing session is done for that day. Sometimes I can simply jot the note down on the appropriate 3x5 card, while other times I'll need to redo a number of cards.
if I come up with changes to parts of the manuscript I've already written, I don't go back and fix it during the first draft stage. I'll simply jot down what needs to change and make those corrections/improvements in the revision process. In the meantime, I continue writing as if those changes have already been implemented. The most important thing in my mind is to get the first draft down on paper. As long as my notes tell me where I began writing as if the changes were in place, it's easy enough to both fix it later without worrying that the story won't work.
For the most part, that's it. As long as i did a good job in the outlining stage, the first draft should run smooth. Of course there are always days where the words flow better than others, but as long as I stick to my outline, I know I'll get through the first draft sooner rather than later. I also keep in mind that overall first drafts are terrible. Sure, on the whole they're good stories with many instances of sparkling writing, but they're also filled with sloppy wordings, cliches, and many other mistakes. That's fine, as I've learned to, for the most part, keep my inner editor at bay during this. I believe first drafts aren't meant for anyone but the author. I don't share my novel with anyone until well into the revision process, but more on that later.
And speaking of the revision process, I'll begin discussing what I do next week. Check back next Wednesday for that. Until then, keep writing and/or reading.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Contents Page for my How I Write posts
If you missed some of my posts on writing (or want to read them again), here they are. I'm not putting dates on them, but I will put them in order, oldest on top. I'll update this page each time I have a new article.
Ideas
Writing Flash Fiction
Friday Flash
Novel Ideas
Novel Writing: Pre-First Draft Part 1
Initial Construction of Characters
Outlining a Novel--Pre-First Draft Part 2
Outlining a Novel--Pre-First Draft Part 3
Final Outline--Pre-First Draft Part 4
How I Write My First Draft
Ideas
Writing Flash Fiction
Friday Flash
Novel Ideas
Novel Writing: Pre-First Draft Part 1
Initial Construction of Characters
Outlining a Novel--Pre-First Draft Part 2
Outlining a Novel--Pre-First Draft Part 3
Final Outline--Pre-First Draft Part 4
How I Write My First Draft
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
My Writing Process
I've stated before here in my blog that I've noticed many writers obsessed with how others work. They want to compare their practices with others to see if they are on the right track. While writers need to just sit down and get their own work done, I believe it is helpful at times, especially when you feel you're in a rut, to peek into the writing lives of others. For this reason, I will give a quick look at my own writing process on my newest work in progress. Maybe it'll give some of you ideas of how you can get your own work done, or it might just fuel your voyeuristic pleasure. Either way, I'm happy with however it helps.
I start by taking some time to write out random ideas about the story to get it solidified in my mind. I think briefly about who the characters should be and write that down. After that, I write down ten or so brief scenes that will be used throughout the book. This gives me a rough outline, which grows bigger as I connect the dots, so to speak. I keep the descriptions of these scenes brief, on one 3x5 card for each. Of course some of the scenes may take multiple chapters to complete, but they're still brief on the card. I don't do much to flesh out the characters at this point--no bio, no card. I jot down notes when I think about things I need to know about them. Instead, I think it's more important to get to know the characters during the draft. The revision and rewriting stage is where I will flesh them out and make it look like the story started with just the characters instead of plot.
When I have my scenes on my cards, I put them in the order that I believe they go in and start writing. I feel this is a good balance between free-writing the first draft (sometimes referred to as "pantsing" as in writing from the seat of your pants), and working from an outline. It gives me freedom to explore my story and world while having a solid foundation to be anchored in. Plus, if I choose a different route than I'd originally envisioned in the outline, it's easy to make up new cards and set aside the old ones that no longer fit.
As I write, I keep plenty of notes for various reasons. Since I've just created a small outline, I need to make things up as I go. When I do create new rules, characters, or whatever, I jot those down so I don't have to search through many pages later to remember what I'd done--place names, character names, character traits, etc. I also make notes about revision ideas I have. I feel it's counterproductive to go back and fix already written work when I know I'll be changing things in my revision/rewriting stage anyway. It's more important to get that first draft done, so a quick note about what I want to change works much better for me.
That's really all there is to it for me. The main part of getting the first draft done is simply sitting down and putting words on the page. My simple outline gives me the freedom to enjoy the writing and creating process. Let me know what you think about my writing process, and feel free to share your own. Until next time, keep reading and/or writing!
I start by taking some time to write out random ideas about the story to get it solidified in my mind. I think briefly about who the characters should be and write that down. After that, I write down ten or so brief scenes that will be used throughout the book. This gives me a rough outline, which grows bigger as I connect the dots, so to speak. I keep the descriptions of these scenes brief, on one 3x5 card for each. Of course some of the scenes may take multiple chapters to complete, but they're still brief on the card. I don't do much to flesh out the characters at this point--no bio, no card. I jot down notes when I think about things I need to know about them. Instead, I think it's more important to get to know the characters during the draft. The revision and rewriting stage is where I will flesh them out and make it look like the story started with just the characters instead of plot.
When I have my scenes on my cards, I put them in the order that I believe they go in and start writing. I feel this is a good balance between free-writing the first draft (sometimes referred to as "pantsing" as in writing from the seat of your pants), and working from an outline. It gives me freedom to explore my story and world while having a solid foundation to be anchored in. Plus, if I choose a different route than I'd originally envisioned in the outline, it's easy to make up new cards and set aside the old ones that no longer fit.
As I write, I keep plenty of notes for various reasons. Since I've just created a small outline, I need to make things up as I go. When I do create new rules, characters, or whatever, I jot those down so I don't have to search through many pages later to remember what I'd done--place names, character names, character traits, etc. I also make notes about revision ideas I have. I feel it's counterproductive to go back and fix already written work when I know I'll be changing things in my revision/rewriting stage anyway. It's more important to get that first draft done, so a quick note about what I want to change works much better for me.
That's really all there is to it for me. The main part of getting the first draft done is simply sitting down and putting words on the page. My simple outline gives me the freedom to enjoy the writing and creating process. Let me know what you think about my writing process, and feel free to share your own. Until next time, keep reading and/or writing!
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