Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Working through the kinks.

Writing is one of those things where words can be flying onto the page one minute and turn bone dry the next. I've been working on a manuscript for about a year. The first draft mind you. I'm not super proud of that time line but it's something I'm trying to figure out. I was super passionate about the project when I started. I did get feed back early on, which may have slowed my process and hindered the flow. I put it aside for many months, hoping that I would get those fuzzy feels for it again. It took a while and now there are some tingles in my belly for it. I am struggling though. I think I'm overthinking things as I always do.

It's the first draft fright. I'm a reviser. It's what I like to do. First drafts scare me. It could be the perfectionist in me, but I like revising. First drafts are messy and disorganized. You would think I would be an outliner, but no, total panster. This might make you think I would love first drafts. I don't. So how do you survive them? I don't think there is a straight answer. This is my fifth novel and I still squirm when I open a blank page. I listen to the voice and plug along, but then that scene comes where you have no idea how to connect it to the ending. Did I mention I write out of order? Yep, guilty.

Right now, I'm at that point. I have 43,000 words. The beginning, most of the middle, and the end are written. I just have to connect (think big climax) the middle to the end. I know what has to happen, it's just getting something down so I can read through and fill in and polish. My brain is having a hard time with it. My solution is to keep going. Even if I develop a twitch in the corner of my left eye, I have to accept that I can write the word "transition" or "needs something here" and continue on. It's okay to do this.

Working through a first draft, for me, can be tedious. The thing is-- we all have our own process. As we hone our skills and write our babies, we figure out what works best for us. It's getting over fears or at least calming them down, taking a breath, and jumping in. So here I go. I'm off to write a big battle scene.

How do you get through your first draft?

Have a great day!!