I think I can, I think I can
I have a deadline of sorts. Well, technically, I have several in the few months (February should be an interesting month at my house), but the one that is looming first and foremost in my mind is December 31st. The first draft of my YA science fiction novel--the ubiquitous WIP, The Daphne Project--needs to be complete. This is not a publisher deadline or even an agent deadline. Several writing buds and I have made this arbitrary deadline in order to kick ourselves in the ass and Get Our Shit Done and complete our first drafts. It seemed so easy when we made this pact a few months ago. Now I'm a little freaked. Not horribly. But enough. I figure if I do 1K a day minimum I should make it.
Completing a draft is always a huge milestone. Most people who want to be writers never finish a project. The story stalls or life gets in the way or they get bogged down in research or they always find a reason not to write or they start a new story. Whatever the reason, THEY NEVER FINISH. So actually writing the words "The End" and actually meaning it makes me feel like a professional of sorts. Now, that's not to say that professional writers don't stall on novels or start a short and never finish it or put a mostly-finished draft in the trunk and never look at it again. They do. It's part of learning the craft. But one of the things that separates a pro from an amateur is FINISHING THE STORY. A professional knows that most any story can be salvaged, that it's rarely broken beyond repair, and even if it's misshapen, a little Butt In Chair will do the trick.
I understand wanting to stop. For me, getting a rough draft of a novel down on paper is like pulling teeth. I fret about plot and pacing and characterization and plot and sentence structure and plot. (Did I mention plot?) There were several times during the current WIP where I could have said, "Fuck it. I'm writing something else." And sometimes I did. A short story there. A blog post there. But never once did I say, "You know, I'm not finishing this." It's just not my style. The carrot for me is rewriting. I can't count how many times I've said to myself, "Self, just get it down. You'll fix it in the rewrite." As I've said on this blog numerous times, I don't write, I rewrite. I look forward to sitting down with my draft and my critique notes and ripping my novel apart. Changing concepts and adding scenes and combining chapters and fleshing out characters and making this story come alive. My heart is racing a little with anticipation.
That will come later. For now, I'll finish the draft. Then I'll give myself some space from that project by writing three short stories and sending out more queries for Through the Portal. Maybe I'll even sketch out a rough plot outline for my next YA novel (turning my World Domination short into a novel or even a short series).
Completing a draft is always a huge milestone. Most people who want to be writers never finish a project. The story stalls or life gets in the way or they get bogged down in research or they always find a reason not to write or they start a new story. Whatever the reason, THEY NEVER FINISH. So actually writing the words "The End" and actually meaning it makes me feel like a professional of sorts. Now, that's not to say that professional writers don't stall on novels or start a short and never finish it or put a mostly-finished draft in the trunk and never look at it again. They do. It's part of learning the craft. But one of the things that separates a pro from an amateur is FINISHING THE STORY. A professional knows that most any story can be salvaged, that it's rarely broken beyond repair, and even if it's misshapen, a little Butt In Chair will do the trick.
I understand wanting to stop. For me, getting a rough draft of a novel down on paper is like pulling teeth. I fret about plot and pacing and characterization and plot and sentence structure and plot. (Did I mention plot?) There were several times during the current WIP where I could have said, "Fuck it. I'm writing something else." And sometimes I did. A short story there. A blog post there. But never once did I say, "You know, I'm not finishing this." It's just not my style. The carrot for me is rewriting. I can't count how many times I've said to myself, "Self, just get it down. You'll fix it in the rewrite." As I've said on this blog numerous times, I don't write, I rewrite. I look forward to sitting down with my draft and my critique notes and ripping my novel apart. Changing concepts and adding scenes and combining chapters and fleshing out characters and making this story come alive. My heart is racing a little with anticipation.
That will come later. For now, I'll finish the draft. Then I'll give myself some space from that project by writing three short stories and sending out more queries for Through the Portal. Maybe I'll even sketch out a rough plot outline for my next YA novel (turning my World Domination short into a novel or even a short series).