TECH: Rough First Drafts

Mar. 31st, 2010 01:51 pm
[identity profile] mbarker.livejournal.com
Original posting 18 February 2010

Writers Digest, February 2009, pages 30-34, have an article by Elizabeth Sims with the title, "Rough It Up." The subtitle is "Get messy with your first draft to get to the good stuff."

Elizabeth starts with Ernest Hemingway's quote, "The first draft of anything is shit." And she talks about how she went from trying to get her writing right the first time to a more relaxed approach. And she assures us that as the first drafts got rougher, the finished work got better. Some of her points...
  1. Be Honest. A careful first draft often leads to a stilted product because you haven't let yourself go. Creativity in writing depends a lot on honesty, and when you write fast, you don't have time to hide from yourself. So let the words flow -- and watch the ideas bubble.
  2. Learn to love anarchy. Write what you think of, not what comes next. Get the words and the scenes and the thoughts out there -- then straighten them out.
  3. Get loose. Relax. Scribble. Make notes of other ways to say things -- or just write them both down. Keep notes for things to check, etc. Don't try to save paper, you're exploring. When a notion strikes, write it down. Circles, arrows, loops, scratch it out and overwrite. If you use the computer to write, work at making the words flow, and don't try to make it pretty. Think! But don't let yourself get stuck. Suspend judgment. Hang it right up there on the wall, and don't let it come down until you've got the first draft done.
  4. Face your second draft. Admittedly, the first draft is rough. But that makes the second draft fun! Now you can edit, rewrite, sequence, do all that stuff. And drop the crud that got written just to let you see the diamonds in the muddle.
Elizabeth talks about rhythm. For her, that's a couple of days writing longhand, then a day writing and editing on the computer. Other people like to spend longer on the first draft, even writing the whole book and then going to the second draft. Whatever works for you. The key is to let the first draft be a rough draft, an exploration in words, instead of trying to make it perfect.
"During the course of writing six novels, I realized that the days when the truth shone brightest were the days my pen flowed the freest and messiest across the pages. And I was rewarded with longer and longer satisfactory passages. It's paradoxical that giving up control rewards you with what you seek most: concise, insightful work."
So, that's Elizabeth Sims take on first drafts. I have to admit, it reminds me of the blue-pencil cartoons, the rough scribbles that cartoonists use before they finish up. The lines are wild, sketchy, and messy. But that will all be overwritten or erased by the final. Or actors, dancers, and others practicing -- trying things out, sometimes even bumping into each other, and... then there is the real performance, where it all looks so smooth.

I'm not sure why we think that writing has to be perfect the first time. Especially with the computer for editing and changes, why not give yourself permission to try things out in the first draft? Nobody needs to see it but you -- and you do need to see what those other notions would look like if you put them in words. So do it!

Write!
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TECH: 101 Tips (43)

Aug. 24th, 2009 11:49 am
[identity profile] mbarker.livejournal.com
Original Posting 20 August 2009

Writers' Digest, October 2004, pages 26 to 33, has a collection of short "nuggets of wisdom" related to getting published. Maria Schneider is the author of the compilation. Take a deep breath, and here we go:
"Writers love words -- it's one of the greatest of our occupational hazards. Consequently, when a first draft comes rushing out of us, it invariably contains too many of them. It's your job to go through the manuscript and identify the bones that require scoping. To do this, monitor your own response to the rhythms of your sentences and paragraphs. You'll know when the sentence is too long if, by the end of it, you feel as you would listening to someone share an anecdote that drags on too long." I.J. Schechter
It's kind of fun to see how these various people think about writing and revision. Schechter seems to see the first draft as an outpouring, flooding the page with words. Then revision is paring it down, getting rid of the extra junk around the edges so that you can see what the core is. And the suggestion about paying attention to your own response to your own rhythms. Do you read your work out loud? Can you hear the words?

I do wonder if there is a difference between the reader who listens to the words, the reader who sees the scenes, and perhaps the reader who is there? I mean, if we're paying too much attention to the words, to the singing beauty of the writing, are we missing the story? Or...

Anyway -- beware of the flood of words, drenching your story in muddy swirls. Clean it up!
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TECH: 101 Tips (32)

Jul. 7th, 2009 03:38 pm
[identity profile] mbarker.livejournal.com
Original posting 3 July 2009

Writers' Digest, October 2004, pages 26 to 33, has a collection of short "nuggets of wisdom" related to getting published. Maria Schneider is the author of the compilation. Take a deep breath, and here we go:
"Whenever I'm blocked, I lower my standards. Wait, let me correct that: I abandon my standards completely. I urge myself to write badly and once I do that my fingers begin to fly and the inner critic is powerless. I used to keep a motto taped to my typewriter: leave the judging 'til later." Christopher Scanlon
Postpone the judging -- we shall judge no writing before it's time? Give yourself an opportunity to be wrong, because you can fix that, but you can't be right unless you're writing? So just dump it. I was reading somewhere recently where a writer blogged about his first draft being a vomit version. Rather disgusting, but memorable. Just get it out there. Then you can fix it.

I'm not sure that we want to urge ourselves to write badly, but we definitely need to put off the inner critic. Tape his mouth shut, blindfold him, and put him in the other room. Now, write it. Let the words flow, the images out, don't worry about little shifts in point of view and what not, just get it down.

Grammar, criticism, spelling, punctuation, revision -- that's for later. You have to start somewhere, and getting the words down is where the writing hits the page. So do it!
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TECH: 101 Tips (15)

May. 28th, 2009 02:09 pm
[identity profile] mbarker.livejournal.com
original posting 22 May 2009

Writers' Digest, October 2004, pages 26 to 33, has a collection of short "nuggets of wisdom" related to getting published. Maria Schneider is the author of the compilation. Take a deep breath, and here we go:
"Keep in mind that you can't be writer, editor and critic all at the same time. For your first draft, at least, allow yourself to give in to the muse. Once you look back, you'll see the imagery that's been developed. You might even be surprised by where your characters have taken you." Connie Rose Porter
It's interesting how many writers and artists talk about shifting hats. There's the creative rush, the first draft, the writing-by-the-seat-of-your-pants push where you blindfold the editor and the critic and just let the words roll, listen to the characters chatter and put down whatever they say, sketch the world in broad strokes -- get it all out there. Then there's the editing and critiquing part, cleaning up, connecting continuity, identifying what is going on and making sure that it works. The revision chunk, reordering, adding foreshadowing and gilding here and there, removing that extra proscenium that snuck in when no one was watching. A planning piece, sometimes indulged before the creative rush to lay out the direction of that rush, sometimes done in clear hindsight where the rush has already gone before.

But separating these parts, and being able to set the others aside while focusing on today's direction -- that's a key ability. And learning when to say it's time to party and just let the words roll for a while, or when to say enough, McDuff, it's time to clean up and see what we have to work with -- ah, that's the trick.

Do you like to start with a rush, and then straighten up? Or do you lay out the plans and outlines, then color inside the lines? Or maybe some mixture of the two approaches, a bit of planning, then a bit of wild times, then a check of the stars and the sun before setting the sails for another day? Whichever, the point here is to learn to shift gears, so that sometimes you're running wild in creative push, and other times you are checking the frame and making sure that the tires are up to pressure. You don't do maintenance while you're racing around the track, but you do need to make a pit stop from time to time, too.
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TECH: Meandering Our Way through Plot and Structure (1)

Dec. 30th, 2008 11:09 am
[identity profile] mbarker.livejournal.com
I've recently acquired a copy of Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell. It's apparently part of a series called Write Great Fiction, and while I certainly should be doing other things, I expect to be reading it over the next little bit. For the fun of it, I thought I might toss some notes up here along with some contemplation. Obviously if you'd like to join in, that will make the trip a bit more interesting. I'll probably forget to cite the book in every posting, but here's the information from the inside page:

Bell, James Scott. Write great fiction: plot & structure: techniques and exercises for creating a plot that grips readers from start to finish. Copyright 2004. Published by Writer's Digest Books.

Okay? So let's take a look at the beginning, the introduction.

The introduction starts out with consideration of what Bell calls the Big Lie. "Writing can't be taught." Or maybe "writers are born" with the implication that you either have it or you don't.  We've discussed this a time or two here on Writers, and I know it is a somewhat sensitive point, but I'm just reporting that Bell considers this the Big Lie.

So what is the truth? "The Truth is that craft can be brought and that you, with diligence and practice and patience, can improve your writing."

Now, Bell does suggest some discipline or practice that you need. Craft doesn't just fall into your lap, you have to work at it. What are his basics?
  1. Get motivated. Make the commitment to write. And do it!
  2. Try stuff. Writing is not a passive experience. Pen or pencil on paper, fingers on the keyboard, or even dictating madly into a voice-recognition program, you have to try things, do things, put the words out there, watch the reactions, and try again.
  3. Stay loose. Writing is a creative pastime, and you need to have fun at it. Too much rigor squashes the innovation.
  4. First get it written, then get it right. Go ahead and splash the first draft out there, without worrying too much about whether every comma and diddle is just right. Then go back and revise and tinker as needed. The first draft is just a draft, so let it blow!
  5. Set a daily quota. Write, write, write. Most people do well with a certain number of words, although others prefer a certain amount of time. Either way, sit down and do it.
  6. Don't give up. Writing requires persistence. To get the stories done, to submit them, to keep going despite rejection, and then to keep going through the long process of publication!
So, that's Bell's introduction. He's going to talk about craft, and he's going to ask us to write. Regularly, with zest and fun, and keep it up!

Sounds like a plan, doesn't  it? So let's go!
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