Momentum

I decided last Saturday that I was going to finish my first draft.

I sat down at the computer and wrote for three uninterrupted hours while my husband took care of the kids.

I didn't allow myself email, or twitter, or spider solitaire. I just wrote.

And 3500 words later I was done.

Sort of.

I have some characters, a setting, and a pretty good story, but there is still SO MUCH work to be done. I'm so excited to do it.

I know everyone says to wait a few months before revising. It makes sense to wait and get some distance from the story. It's good advice.

But even though I know the "right" thing to do is write something else and let this story simmer for a while, I just can't wait.

I'm excited about this project. I want to work on it. And, after my 2010 (aka the year of crappy writing), I feel like I need to keep this new found momentum going.

So, I'm jumping into revisions tomorrow. It might be the "wrong" way to do it, but I don't care.

How long do you wait before you start revising a first draft? Have you ever been so into a story you couldn't let it rest?

Revising: The Chain Reaction

Right now I'm knee deep in revisions. I'm adding scenes, fleshing out characters, and trying to decide if the ending is awesome or really crappy. Good times.

One of the problems I run into every time I revise a manuscript is the chain reaction.

The chain reaction occurs when I decide that the choice the main character made on page 5 really isn't consistent with his character the rest of the story. He must make a different choice. That different choice snowballs into changes on pages 6, 8, and 10 and those changes cause problems with pages 12, 16, and 20. Pretty soon I'm rewriting almost the entire book.

This makes me crazy.

I try to come up with some way I could just not change the thing on page 5, but I'm pretty sure the book will stink if I leave it as it is. I try to patch up pages 6 and 8 so they won't cause problems later. Some of the patches work. Most don't. The chain reaction has taken hold of the manuscript and it won't let go until I rewrite every single thing in it's path.

The interesting thing is, though I hate chain reactions while I'm revising, I love chain reaction revisions once I'm done. They fill in the gaps and make the characters believable.

Do you run into chain reactions when you revise? Is this a problem plotters run into too, or does it only happen to those of us who write without outlines?

Finished!

I finished my first draft yesterday. YAY!!!

It is the slowest first draft I've ever written. It took me seven months to write 30,000 words. I was a little disheartened by this until I started thinking about these seven months.

The first two months were November and December (Thanksgiving and Christmas!)

During three of the months I had terrible morning (all day) sickness and sitting at the computer for longer than fifteen minutes wasn't really an option.

Two of the months were spent working on a different project.

So really, it wasn't THAT slow.

I've been trying to decide if I should jump right into revisions or let this manuscript simmer and write another one. I think I'm leaning toward the simmering option. After seven months I'm really anxious to write something new! And I have the perfect summer project in mind.

When you finish a first draft do you start revisions right away or do you set it aside and work on something else for a while?

Writing is Rewriting

"Writing is rewriting. A writer must learn to deepen characters, trim writing, intensify scenes. To fall in love with a first draft to the point where one cannot change it is to greatly enhance the prospects of never publishing." ~Richard North Patterson

and

"Books aren't written--they're rewritten. Including your own. It is one of the hardest things to accept, especially after the seventh rewrite hasn't quite done it." ~Michael Crichton

Um, yes. That's really all I have to say today.

Do you want to have your work published someday? Does your story need another rewrite? Mine does.

Story Tantrums

Last night my son threw the craziest tantrum of his life (he's only 2, so you might thing this isn't saying much, but believe me, it is). For no particular reason he screamed, kicked and flailed for 30 minutes straight. It was ugly.

To make matters worse halfway through his tantrum it was bedtime, so I (foolishly) tried to get him into pajamas. He didn't want to put on pajamas.

Five minutes later, my arms bruised from his constant kicking, I handed my still un-pajamaed toddler to my husband. Using his magic daddy skills, he managed to coax the boy into jammies and bed--a small miracle.

Sometimes my story throws tantrums too. I just can't get it to do what I want it to do no matter how hard I try. I'll rewrite and rewrite again and still the scene won't be right.

That's when I have to make myself step away--spend some time on another part of the story (or even a different project). I come back when I've had a few days to think it over and I try again. Sometimes it works and sometimes I have to step back again (and again, and again).

When it's finally right it feels good to have faced the challenge and come out victorious.

Does your story throw tantrums sometimes?

Sometimes We Need to Cut

Yesterday several sweet people decided to follow my blog and now I have more than 50 blog supporters! Yay! I am so happy to know you all. Thank you for your excellent comments and support during my first month of real blogging.

This is my dog:

He is a Britany Spanial/Border Collie Mix and we adopted him a year ago. We love him. He's excellent with kids, he has awesome frisbee catching abilities, he hardly ever barks or chews. He is almost the perfect dog... except, he sheds like crazy.

Our solution to this one thing keeping our dog from perfection is to shave him several times a year (who am I kidding, there are a few more things that keep him from being perfect--like his love of eating diapers--but we work with what we can.) He looks like a rat, instead of a cute furry dog, but he doesn't cover the house and our clothing in long white and rusty-colored hairs.

I love the way my dog looks with all his hair, but he is a better fit for our family without it.

Likewise, sometimes I love a scene in my story, but I know the story as a whole will be stronger without it. It might feel a little naked when I take the scene out, but it will be better in the long run.

I've rewritten the end of Underground many times. One of my endings featured a scene with police dogs. It was a pretty good scene--dramatic and also a little funny--but it didn't fit with the story as a whole, so I canned it and wrote another ending (and another and another) until I finally had one that was right for the story.

Do you have a scene you loved that you had to cut? That you should cut but haven't yet?

Things that got neglected while I revised

I've been working on revisions for my agent this week. The things she wanted fixed were pretty minor, but I get a little obsessed when I start a new revision--I just need to get it done.

So I've been working hard. With my focus on the revision some of the other things in my life have been neglected. These are the things that haven't been given enough attention lately.

Our poor, poor vegetable garden.

It's needed attention for weeks, and for weeks my attention has been elsewhere.

The laundry (this is only one basket... there are 4 that need folding)

Cleaning (or even convincing the kids to clean)

The kids and the dog. I am ashamed to admit it, but there has been a lot of movie watching at our house this week. Luckily my three kids have each other and they play great together... when they aren't fighting. (Just so you know, I haven't totally neglected them. They are still fed and clothed and my baby has spent most of the week sitting on my lap as I type at the computer).

The good news is I'm almost done with revisions, and next week I plan to spend a lot of time at the park. (We'll see about the cleaning and the laundry.)

Do you ever let things slide in favor of writing?