What Rough Drafting Looks Like

I'm halfway through the rough draft of my third novel. First drafts are a strange and special animal that seem to roll out differently for everyone. Some people love drafting; some people hate it. As for me, I keep waiting for the whole process to become easier and more streamlined. To stop making me feel like a self-indulgent crazy person who talks through plot problems while stuck alone in traffic. I think to myself, "I've done this a few times. So, clearly, I have learnt my lessons. I will know my ending in advance. All of my characters will behave and be nice to me."

Every book has been a different experience, but I'm finding that my drafting process has developed a predictable pattern. Let me illustrate.

0 - 10,000 words: 

My characters are vivid and interesting. Everything I write is vivid and interesting. I can't wait to see where this story is going! And this novel writing thing?...pure magic.

10,000 - 35,000 words:

I can kind of see where this story is headed, but I have no idea how I'm getting there. That end point seems really, really far away. My characters are being tempestuous. I was a fool to think I could make a novel out of this crazy premise. It's hot out here. I'm thirsty. I'm going to send this to my critique partners so they can tell me if it's awful. This novel writing thing?...the hardest.

35,000 - 55,000:

I understand my characters now; they're starting to tell me when I've got them wrong. In fact, they're keeping me up at night trying to dictate their stories. All of these plot possibilities seem worth exploring, but I'm angsting over which ones are the right ones. Let's go left!:

...maybe I shouldn't have taken a left...maybe I shouldn't have written this, period...

...wait, this is nice, but I think the creepy woods were more interesting...

...and here we are again. I remind myself that my crit partners assured me that this story isn't awful. I force loving friends to read pages and promise me that isn't awful. 

55,000 - 75,000:

So this isn't awful; I'm liking this. I know where I'm going! My characters are starting to make big decisions as they stumble towards the finish line. My plot is revealing new twists. Or maybe they're not new: hey, look, I planted the seeds for them in chapter three! This is scary! This is exciting! Someone pass me my oxygen tank!

75,000 - 80,000:

I'm in love with this story. I hope others will also be in love with this story. In a few weeks, I'll probably reread this draft and moan about how much work it needs but right now, for me, it is perfect. 

 Five minutes after typing THE END:

Current Writing Soundtrack: "Stubborn Love" by The Lumineers

The Joys of Audio: Reading Edition

I've always loved audiobooks. Mom and I used to go 'shopping' for them at the public library; we'd scour the Mystery shelves together, her because she loves mysteries, me because I wanted to love whatever she loved. I discovered some fantastic books this way. At thirteen I got very sick and spent several months chained to a couch, knitting really ugly scarves with my one good eye and listening to audiobooks. My poor eyesight meant I couldn't really read, so it was good to feel that there was still a way for me to ingest stories.

There's nothing like being read to; it makes me feel like a little girl again. I clean to them, drive to them, and sometimes fall asleep to them. A book read really well can make a story come alive. Even so, my audiobook love often strikes me as something of an old lady habit, but more and more books I've read and want to read are being respun into audio, read by interesting people - especially in YA. Here are some of the best audiobooks I've enjoyed in the last few years. I read them all first, and I can tell you that these renditions are well worth taking the time to enjoy.

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Steifvater (read by Steve West & Fiona Hardingham). I loved this book when I read it, and I loved it even more when listening to it. These readers evoke all the atmosphere and sense of place the book does so well. I liked it so much I listened to it more than once...in a row.

American Gods by Neil Gaiman (read by George Guidall). I listened to this before bed (a very relaxing way to wind down) and was completely captivated by this guy's reading voice. It is deep and kind of craggy, perfectly suited to this story.

A Walk In The Woods by Bill Bryson (read by William Roberts). This book is very funny, but it was William Roberts' rendition of it that made me laugh so hard I almost wet myself. He brings Bill Bryson's dry humor to life and turns interactions between Katz and Bryson into comic gold.

Dark Matter by Michelle Paver (read by Jeremy Northam). I feel that I should just be able to say 'Jeremy Northam' and leave it at that...he performs this book so, so well. He takes its creep factor and turns it up several notches (in a very good way). Don't listen to it before bed or on dark car rides, though. Trust me.

His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman (read by a long list of great-sounding people). I listened to these on a very, very long car ride. They made me fall in love with Pullman's world all over again.

Current song obsession: "War" by Gossling

Author Thoughts from a Figment live chat

I participated in my first "live chat" the other night. It was like sneaking a peek at somebody's Gchat (although apparently 500 other people were doing it, so I guess I'm not that big a creep). The chat, run by This Is Teen and Figment, went down between two of my very favorite authors: Maggie Stiefvater and Lucy Christopher. It was supposed to be about voice, but their answers spanned a whole range of writerly topics that had me taking avid notes. 

On Character:

- You don't always have to know how the story ends, but you should know the end of the characters' emotional arc. In other words, what do they learn? Everything that happens to a character in the story leads to the realization they come to by the end.

- It's OK to steal people. (I liked this one...because I'm constantly stealing sayings and nervous gestures from people from strange and familiar). Keep writing fresh by watching how people react to things; their speech patterns and movements; their turns of phrase.

- Read out loud to see how a character's voice is shaping up; it's great for objectivity and for 'hearing' what isn't working for your characters.

- The most important thing is that your character be consistent and believable and true to themselves...

- I think it comes back to being true to the individual you're writing. You don't ask "would a teen say this?" you ask "would my character say this?"

- Ask yourself: who is it that your character projects? Who are they really on the inside? You need to know the 'why' when you're the author. WHY are your characters acting the way they do? Don't worry about the physical things like eye color and hair length...worry about motivation, what propels them.

- Reading out loud helps you to know if you're being yourself, or if you're being your character.

Quotables:

From Maggie: "...the key to true storytelling is to be specific". You can find a character's 'truth' when their reactions become predictable, and you know what it is that drives them

LC: "I write stories about places I want to explore / think about more / have issues with / have an interesting cultural resonance."

MS: "Absolutely. A setting is like a character where you have to ask yourself, why are things that way HERE. Not anywhere else, but HERE."

MS: "So if there is something peculiar and interesting about you, something cool you've done, that is what you should mine for your novels."

MG: "In my head, the story already exists, and my job is to dust carefully away until I find it beneath all the silt. And if I smash too hard and impose my will and bust past writer's block without thinking about what is really stopping me from writing, I'll smash off the statue's arm. So I need to go carefully and trust my gut, and when they are right, I can FEEL it. I see it right there. The story I always meant to write."

MS: "If you know how a character is going to react, you know what they're going to say."

It was a fantastic chat, and well worth sipping wine through. If you want to replay it in all its glory. go here!