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Babble
I’m
pretty new to this writing lark and really, what do I know? Honestly,
not that much. But I do know that reading other writers’ call
stories and working methods encourages and inspires me. So, I thought
I’d add my call story and other bits and bobs I come up with.
Hopefully you’ll find it encouraging – or interesting at least!
Here's
an article I wrote for the Romance Writers of New Zealand newsletter
Heart to Heart. It ran in May 2007.
ON
your marks, GET set...FINISH!
You
know, it’s easy to start writing a book – well, once
you’re over the first sentence and tell yourself its ok because
you’ll go back and fix it later – then you’ve started. Oh the
excitement! The exhilaration! The fun you’re going to have with
these characters! Yep. That phase can last a while. But there comes a
point where it feels like you’re trying to walk through thigh-deep
mud (sometimes it goes even higher) and you’re wondering why on
earth you’re bothering trying to write this heap of … whatever.
Then
of course, you get hit by that wonderful thing – the Much Better
Idea (MBI). So tempting isn’t it? Those characters are so much more
interesting. The conflict is a killer… oh let’s just jack this one
in and go straight into the other…
No.
That’s not how it works honey. That way leads to nothing but
frustration. Repeat after me: I will finish the book, I will finish
the book…
Now
quickly jot down the details of the MBI and file it away somewhere
safe so you can Finish The Damn Book.
And
yes, it’s darn hard.
Sure
I know there’ll be plenty of you who have FTDB (all those Clendon
entries! Yay you!!!) But I know for a fact there are others out there,
who’ve been writing for a good while now, who haven’t. Go on. Fess
up. You love those first chapter competitions - right? You have the
opening scene perfect (as you should, you’ve been sweating over it
for so long) and the partial is almost perfect enough to send to the
publisher. You’ll ‘finish’ the rest while you’re waiting to
hear back.
Yeah
right. Time to get over the perfection thing – for now. Apparently
there are people out there who can sit patiently, hour after hour,
honing each para to perfection. From start to finish they can write a
book. The whole thing - editing as they go.
Wow.
I’m
not one of those people. If you are, skip to the next article.
If
you’re still with me, then let’s be honest – getting to ‘the
end’ takes a lot of sweat, a lot of determination and a lot of time.
And you need to let go of any Type A tendencies to do it. If I worried
about how well I was writing as I was writing then I wouldn’t be
writing at all. I have to disassociate my ‘edit’ bit from my
‘create’ bit in order to get there. The edit bit gets its turn
later. As tempting as it is to stop and worry I HAVE to press on and
get it done. As a result I have never started writing a book and not
finished it. Even if its absolute rubbish I have finished the darn
thing. (And if you want to know as I write this article my tally is 6
– rough drafts). And that’s the point I’ve finished the first draft.
As
Donna Alward, Harlequin M&B Romance author says:
There’s
really no trick to finishing beyond discipline. You have to make
yourself sit in the chair and do it, even when the words don’t come
out the way you want. A first draft is just that. Be tough
on yourself and
RUSE
– Resist the Urge to Self Edit. The time for editing and
layering comes once you’ve written those magical words – THE
END.”
Ok,
so no trick other than discipline. But we can play a few mind games
right? Most of us are a little lazy – do I really want to spend all
my leisure hours hunched over my keyboard? OK, a fair bit of the time
we do – we write because we love to and are kinda unbearable if we
don’t - BUT to get to the end means working through those inevitable
rough patches. To get over those we need motivation.
While
the dream of getting published is fabulous motivation, it’s not an
immediate reward. I’m the kind of person who needs immediate.
Setting achievable targets and all that SMART goal setting stuff is in
order here. Namely word count targets. This is a system that works and
it’s simple. You set a target (mine is either 1000 or 1500 words a
day), then you reward yourself when you meet that target.
Bribery/rewards
work every time. I give myself a sticker (don’t laugh, I have
preschoolers ok?!) on the calendar in the evening when I’ve done my
daily tally. I LOVE standing in the kitchen in the middle of the day
in complete chaos and seeing all my little stickers building up from
the night’s work - and I HATE seeing a blank square. Stickers work
for me. For you it might be chocolate, bubble bath, half hour Internet
surf AFTER tally time? I don’t know – find something that works
for you.
Then
get the family on board and your friends. Tell them your target and
ask them to support you. Definitely tell your writing buddies and
cyber buddies. If you don’t have a blog, start one up and go to http://www.zokutou.co.uk/wordmeter/
and get one of those cool word count worm thingies – then you can
update it everyday. While I thought no one would be interested, I have
had writer mates tell me how inspiring it is for them when they see my
little worm go up – it gets them keen to add to their own. And yeah,
I follow other writers’ worms on their blogs too. Just one of those
weird things that works.
But
even better than telling your mates, have a competition. As Trish
Wylie, Harlequin M&B Romance and Modern Extra/Sexy Sensation
author, noted on her blog at the start of a recent wordcount war:
"Jeez
but I LOVE a wordcount war!!!! There's nothing quite like it to
motivate you to get those words down on paper... yes, a deadline is
motivating... yes, being paid an advance is motivating... But keeping
up with your pals??? *insert manic laughter* Oh-yes-indeedy - now THAT
will keep a gal going!"
(see
http://www.trishwylie.blogspot.com/)
Of
course, the ultimate in word count competitions is Nanowrimo (http://www.nanowrimo.org/).
50k in 30 days.
I
discovered Chris Baty’s book “No Plot, No Problem” in the local
library two years ago this June and it’s how I started writing. I
did four ‘nano’ style drafts in a row: bang, bang, bang, bang. I
took the second bang, polished it and sent it off. That’s the one on
the shelves in
Britain
now. The other three? Well. I guess they’re my apprentice ones –
I’ve never gone back and polished them. In fact one of them I
haven’t even been back to read through properly! Maybe one day
I’ll revise them – meantime I have too many MBIs to get to first!
So
yes, the rough and ready first draft method works for me. Harlequin
run their own version on the eHarlequin.com boards in November as well
– so you can share your daily tally and best line etc with a bunch
of like minded souls.
A
word of caution though – yes Nano is totally, utterly wonderful and
so much fun –BUT you do want to have a little quality meter.
You don’t want to get too off track so I do write an outline before
starting. Characters, conflicts, main plot points. Even if you’re a
panster you need a bit of direction. And if you do sell you’ll need
to provide your Ed with an outline of your next idea(s) – so you may
as well get used to it now. Sure it’ll change a bit but it can
really help when you hit the stuck-in-mud phase.
If
you want a less ‘competitive’ angle but still a support group then
trawl the internet – there are loads of good groups out there. The
Pink Heart Society (http://pinkheartsociety.blogspot.com/) has a
series of fabulous features on finishing at the moment – check them
out. Harlequin has a ‘book in a year’ group of the boards too. So
go surfing - so long as you don’t procrastinate too long! ;).
The
best thing about the Nano approach is that is makes you write every
day. Personally I think this is essential. Think of your
writing brain as an elite athlete who needs to train every day to
maintain peak performance. OK, some days we cross-train (with an
article perhaps? A lengthy blog comment?) but writing every day is a
must. Ultimately that’s how you get finished. Chipping away, every
day. It keeps your head in the story and it soon becomes a habit –
as Flylady (www.flylady.net)
says, it takes the average person 21 days to build a habit, some of us
lesser mortals (as in those with way too much to do) a good 28 days.
Every day. Even 100 words. Eventually you’re going to get there: the
end.
Of
course, (more mind games sorry) you’re not really finished.
You’ve still got to send that manuscript to your very own finishing
school. A lot of liposuction, a few implants here and there to get the
shape you want. That’s the good thing about bashing out the draft
– you’re less inclined to be afraid of attacking it with a good,
hard edit. Then go for the fine detail – some toner, highlighter,
primp and fuss. It often takes me half as long again to edit the book
as it did to write the first draft – sometimes longer. But you have
to let this baby go sometime. Get that script into the format the
publisher requires and send it out the door.
NOW
you’re finished! And the best thing of all about that? Why you have
a date remember? With that MBI!
Five
Websites for Writers
1.
Eharlequin.
The mecca. It has it all – the info and the camaraderie of other
authors and gonnabes.
Click HERE
for my new author profile!
2.
New Zealand
Romance Writers. We’ve a long tradition of
awesome authors and I am so proud to be added to the list of Mills
& Boon writers – some big shoes to fill – come check it
out! 3.
Pink
Heart Society. A blogazine for lovers of category romance this is
a site chocca with inspiration (wink, wink, nudge, nudge…) and
incredibly useful articles and tips from super successful writers.
4.
Nanowrimo.
This was the kick-start I needed. The freedom to just write and
not worry. The confidence and satisfaction I got when I finished
writing a whole book was fantastic. Do it.
5.
Judie Jarvie. Author websites are a mine of useful information and tips
– not to mention places to find great stories to read. Jude is
my CP. She’s a brain box. Read her stuff today!
join me and others for
chat, info and trivia
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