Skeletons
Last night, Laurie and I were attempting to write. This is notable mainly because 1.) we are college students, we have jobs and we (try to) have social lives, and 2.) we have both been suffering from a bad case of writer's block.
"I hate this book right now," Laurie said.
"I hate my book right now," I said.
"I am completely inept at plotting," Laurie said.
"Me too," I said. "I just don't know what happens next."
"Me either!" Laurie said.
And so we bemoaned our suckiness before turning our attention back to our WIPs. We struggled on for several minutes more until, in a moment of sheer frustration, Laurie said something that was sheer genius. "Okay, I hate this scene. I'm going to write something from the middle of the book."
And I just kind of stared into space, slack-jawed, and thought, "Wait - we can do that?"
Yes. Actually, we can.
The simplest definition of plot is "what happens next." Plot is a sequence of events; a parade of incidents that ultimately create a novel. Of course, there's more to a book than just random events - but once stuff starts happening,, you have the beginnings of a story.
In STRANGE AND BEAUTIFUL, lots of things happen. At its core, the book is a quest - Nika's mother disappears; Nika goes to find out why. Random events, random clues, lead to the climax, the answer to all her questions. This is the skeleton of the WIP. But my writer's block came from a desperate attempt to add skin and muscle and tendons to that skeleton. I was trying to piece together the whole book in one draft - perfecting word choice and character development and world-building. I was trying to write a final draft when I just needed to make stuff happen.
The thing is, I'm a perfectionist. I want to start at the beginning and press on toward the end and finish up with a shiny book packed full of deep themes and complex characters. I want to make something beautiful from this jumbled mess of ideas in my head. But first drafts are not supposed to be perfect. First drafts are skeletal. First drafts are made from puzzle pieces, scenes that have to be rearranged and embellished and polished in order to create a novel.
In other words - you can lighten up a little. You're allowed to start in the middle. You can add scenes, and delete them when they're not working, and then re-write them with completely characters. You do not have to start at the beginning and write a smooth, shiny draft in one sitting. You can relax.
I can relax.
So last night, when Laurie and I were writing, I did the unthinkable - I started a scene that was burning in the back of my mind, begging to be written. That scene occurs somewhere in the middle of the book, and I'm not really sure what happens before or after it, but I know that it exists; it's a puzzle piece that will have an important role in the big picture. But I don't need to worry about that yet. For now, I'm unearthing the skeleton. The skin and blood can wait until later.