Hello, writers. For some time I've owned John Steinbeck's Diary of a Novel, a journal he kept while writing East of Eden. I've started to read it a few times, but it's just too traumatic. Might be of interest to a non-writer, maybe. To a writer the main thing that comes through is every writer feels this way.
“This way” being something along the lines of
I can't write this. This is crap. What's my wordcount? 223 words? Oh great. I've been sitting here all morning; 223 words? Out of 75,000? And they're crap. What on earth made me think I could do this?
(The above being my thoughts, not Mr. Steinbeck's.)
At such times I think of the words of teh Guru:
Don't write unless you have to.
When he said that, none of us asked him what he meant.
Anyway, a while back, I posted a timeline of a book from inception to publication. But that was posting on the publishing process, not the writing process. With my current work in progress, the third book of the Jinx trilogy, I tried to jot down a timeline to stave off my frustration. I wanted to remind myself that every book starts out as crap.
(The timeline of the writing of the previous book, Jinx 2, is all a blur to me, as it was done during my sister's illness. The copyediting, proofreading, etc had to be pushed back because of crises, and the people at HarperCollins were wonderfully understanding and flexible. If you've been a caregiver to a person with a serious illness, you know that not everyone is wonderfully understanding and flexible.)
Anyway, book 3 so far:
April 15-- Began drafting. Took most of the remainder of the month to get up to normal drafting speed.
May-- Spent most of this month very frustrated. Kept drafting, but with frequent notes in the manuscript that everything I was writing was crap.
June-- Began to feel better. This turkey just might fly.
July-- It even has some jokes in it that make me laugh.
July 26-- Finished the loose draft of 77,073 words. Gave it a title. Printed it out.
August-- Revised the loose draft to 73,743 words. Finished scenes that were left unfinished. Deleted random mumblings to self. Deleted scenes that didn't contribute to plot, even if they contained great lines. Saved great lines to “Save that line!” file. Recognized they may not be as great as I think. Divided manuscript into chapters.
August 20-- sent manuscript to my brilliant critique buddy
August 24-- began making changes based on his comments
August 28-- sent manuscript of 74,405 words to my agent (for her comments, not as a finished project)
At this point I ought to set the thing aside for six weeks, per Stephen King. And he's right. Problem is my deadline is October 15. In ordinary circumstances, I would've started drafting last November.
Some notes about the above:
- “Loose draft” is a phrase I learned from the editor of Jinx, Anne Hoppe. Makes me feel better, since what I had on July 26 definitely didn't qualify as a First Draft.
- I used to write in chapters from the git-go. I stopped doing this once I learned how often I end up moving or deleting scenes. Now I write in story blocks, with between 8 and 12 blocks making up a manuscript.
- Your mileage will vary. Process is extremely personal. I just wrote the timeline to reassure myself that this is how I always feel when drafting, and I present it as an example of one journey from the blank screen to first draft.
Since the above doesn't lead neatly into a Tonight's Challenge, try this:
Write a scene that begins with the words
It would make a statue snicker
and includes the line
“Are you talking about these toads?”
Write On! will be a regular weekly diary (Thurs 8 pm ET) until it isn't.
Before signing a contract with any agent or publisher, please be sure to check them out on Preditors and Editors, Absolute Write and/or Writer Beware.