Getting to The End - That First Draft

WRITING WEDNESDAY

Wow!  What happened to Monday and Tuesday?  LIFE

One of the easiest things about writing is the ability to give up.  I've done it.  Everyone has done it.  But what does giving up get you?  Not a whole lot.

This time--THIS TIME--and every time after, giving up will not be accepted.  Why?  Because you can do it!  With a little help and some tips and tricks, you, too can finish that book!

What does it take to write that first draft?  Writing it!

Whether you're a panster or a plotter, the writing must happen.  We all obsess about our every word.  Why?  Because we want our writing to be perfect.  But nothing and no one are perfect.  Still, we strive to do our best.

One of the biggest things most successful writers will tell you is to Just Write.  Sounds simple, doesn't it?  It isn't, but we can make it easier.

Many successful writers will say that the key is to write a fast first draft.  I agree with that.  But what, exactly, does that mean?  It means No Editing.  That's right.  You don't write a few pages, then go back to pick it apart and polish it to what will probably be changed later.

If panic sets in at the mere mention of No Editing, take a deep breath.  There are ways to make that first draft with no editing easier.

1. Have a fairly solid idea of where your story is going.  Does this mean you have to plot the entire story?  Not necessarily.  It depends on what works best for you.  Simply put, have an idea of your opening, an inciting incident that shows the conflict of the two characters (hero and heroine in a romance), the mid-point aka main turning point, the black moment (when all seems lost), and the resolution aka the happily ever after in a romance.  Cooking Up a Story
2. Know your characters' GMCs.  If you don't know what GMC (Goal, Motivation, Conflict), you can do a search on the Internet.  There's an abundance of information out there to help you.  A quick explanation is Goal (what the character wants), Motivation (why the character wants the goal), and Conflict (what's keeping the character from reaching his/her goal).  Each main character should have his or her own GMC.  Check out my blog on Building Characters and blogs and articles by others.
3. Do as much research as you can pre-writing.  Whether contemporary, historical, or even futuristic/dystopian/other, they all take some research.  You want to write a cowboy book, a doctor book, or even a setting you're unfamiliar with?  Research.  Again, the Internet is a wonderful tool for this and many other things.  Use it.  Talk to people who can help.  You'll find more than you need, but that's okay.  What you don't need you may need with another book.
4. Plan and use your writing schedule.  Set aside time to write every day and also set a daily goal for pages or words to be written.  And stick to it!  Check out my 4-part blog series on Goal Setting for some ideas.
5. Think about what you're going to write before your fingers touch the keyboard.  In whose POV will the scene be?  What is going to happen in a scene? If it helps, instead of writing one scene and stopping for the day, stop in the middle of a scene--especially an exciting or tense point--and start there the next day.  Once you're in the scene, writing it, let the moment and the characters carry you along.
6. If you find yourself stuck...  Don't panic.  It's amazing what our subconscious does for us.  Try sleeping on the problem.  Brainstorm with a writer friend or group of writer friends.  We often get too close to our story and characters that we can't think "out of the box" or beyond our preconceived ideas.  If those things don't produce results, write whatever comes to mind. Don't worry that it isn't quite right, just get down the idea.  But don't edit now!  Remember, we're on the No Editing plan.  Write a note (sticky notes work well), along with the page # and chapter/scene if needed, and refer to it later, after the first draft is finished. Or highlight that section and go back when you've finished the first draft.
7. Write it down!  Ideas come to us at the strangest times.  Have a notebook where you can write them down.  Put a notebook in your car, your purse, or wherever you can grab it.  While driving, DO NOT write notes.  This is where a small voice recorder can really come in handy!

Once you have that first draft written, it's time to put it away.  Let it sit for a while, if possible, and work on something new or whatever it takes to get you away from the story.  Once you've had some distance, go back and start editing.  That's the time to refer to those notes and make changes.

Celebrate!

Now that your first draft is finished, feel proud of your accomplishment.  Many people want and hope to write a book, but a large percentage of those people never do.  You have!

Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal. ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Begin Your Dream, Then Finish It

WRITING WEDNESDAY
Millions of people dream of writing a book.  In fact, it's said that in the U.S. alone, 200 million people want to write a book.  Only a small percentage actually do.

Maybe you're one of that small percentage who has actually sat down at a keyboard or held a notebook and pen/pencil in hand and started writing.  If so, I salute you!  It's the first step of making your dream come true.

But there's more to it than that first step of beginning.  The hardest part is to finish writing that story.

An idea springs to mind, and we start writing.  Before long, we lose interest, we hit a wall, we start to lose interest in our characters or story.  Or all of those things!  And then we quit.  We shove the story aside and wait for inspiration on a new story.

A few false starts aren't bad.  Nothing but starts isn't good.  How will you know if you're able to write a complete book, if you stop a few chapters into writing it?   Some authors do well with 80,000 to 120,000 word books.  Others aren't comfortable writing anything more than 50K to 75K   Some writers panic at the thought of anything over 30,000 words, while others enjoy writing short stories.  What do you feel is your comfort zone?

I'm here today to tell you that tossing it aside isn't always the best thing to do.  In fact, if you're a new writer, it's one of the worst things you can do.  I have everything I've ever written saved, either in hard copy or on computer (disk or whatever).  I became serious about writing with the hope of someday have my books published in 1996.  Because my focus then--and still is--romance, I joined Romance Writers of America (RWA) and went to my first National RWA Conference in July that year.  Kathie DeNosky and I had met briefly online, and we met in person at that conference.  Within very little time, we became friends with two other aspiring authors, Janet Lee Barton and Belinda Barnes.  The four of us eventually formed our own, small critique group.  It was Kathie who pushed me into entering writing contests.  My first entry, Contract for Love, placed Honorable Mention in the Love in Uniform Contest in 1996.

I entered more contests, each time with a finished manuscript.  After placing or winning in six more contests with three other finished manuscripts, I hit the jackpot in 1999's Georgia Romance Writers Maggie Award for Excellence and won first place with the first 30 pages of the book in the Unpublished Short Contemporary Category.  When the final judge, Silhouette Editor Mary-Theresa Hussey, asked to see the full manuscript of The Rancher and the Runaway Mom, it was written.  In April of 2000, I got The Call that Silhouette Romance wanted to buy my book.  (A short P.S. on this.  Every other book I'd entered in contests had been completely finished when I entered, except this one.  I was short less than two chapters when I sent in the entry, and I finished it, long before the finalists were announced.)

By the time I SOLD what later became Rachel's Rescuer, I'd written nine previous books.  Of the ten, including my first sale, half of them have been published.  Those other five?  I still have them, and plan someday to rewrite, revise, and polish.  The stories aren't bad, but they need work, and I've learned SO MUCH in the years since I first wrote them.  Cowboy Over a Barrel (original title) and published as A Saddle Made for Two, was my second Silhouette Romance.  The Cowboy and the Ice Princess (published as The Rodeo Rider, the first in what has become a 10-book series) was my second Harlequin American Romance.  Who knew they'd love cowboys as much as I love writing them?

If all that sounds like bragging, it isn't.  Admitting and patting yourself on the back or having others pat you on the back makes doing the hard work that much more special.  Kathie has by far surpassed me in the writing world.  She sold her first Silhouette (now Harlequin) Desire on my birthday in 1999.  Belinda sold in December of that same year.  Of the three of us, I came in third in April of 2000.  Jealousy never had a place in our friendships and never will.  Envy?  Yes, but along with that came admiration and Kathie kicking my backside to keep me going.  I have no room to brag.  Sharing the things I've learned (and will continue to learn) with others makes me hopeful that one smidgen of something I've shared might be the one thing needed to create an award winning book and author.

So now you know why tossing a beginning aside isn't a good thing, right?  But why?

• Each book started as an idea.  Ideas grow into completed books, if you stick with it.
• As a writer, each finished manuscript is a learning process.  You grow as a writer with each one.  If you're part of a critique group or enter contests, there will be people who are willing to help, to tell you your strong points and help with your weak points.
• If a book doesn't sell, it might be perfect later.  Publishing tastes change.  Those tastes could be right up your writing alley.   

Here are a few tips I've learned along the way.  Whether you're just beginning or have been writing for much longer, but feel you're getting stuck and going nowhere with your writing, these are a few things to keep in mind and give some thought.

1. READ!!  What type (genres and sub-genres) are your favorite reads?  Which of those do you feel you are best at writing?
2. Study and know your market.  Always keep in mind that what's selling now may or may not be hot in the future, but it's worth a try.  Yes, some writers make it big with something completely different, but it's rare.
3. Hone your skills.  This includes grammar, spelling, and all the mechanics of writing.  Editors (if traditionally published) will love you for this.  Readers (if you're self-publishing) will, too!  There's not much worse than trying to read a good story, while bad writing keeps pulling you out of it.
4. Learn to plot.  It doesn't have to be scene by scene, chapter by chapter, but have a solid idea of how and where the story begins, turning points, hooks, black moments and resolutions (aka Happily Ever Afters).  If you don't understand those terms, check out some of my older blog posts and especially check out the blogs, books, and advice of other authors!
5. Your non-writing friends and family can be a part of your pep club, but they will always love your writing, no matter what.  Get outside that circle t learn.  Join a writing group, a critique group, or enter contests.
6. Keep learning.  Always.  Nothing is better than knowledge, not even talent.  Without knowledge, even the most talented will struggle.
7. Don't give up!!  I was lucky enough to find writing friends who wouldn't let me do that.  Throwing in the towel was something I often considered, but they kept me from doing it.  My mantra became, If you quit now, the next book probably would have the THE ONE. Who wants to tempt fate that much?
8. Enjoy writing, but also enjoy life, yourself, your family and friends.
9. WRITE!!  Each time you sit down to write, whether it's been an hour, a day, a week or months, you'll learn knew things.  If something isn't working, try thinking about it from a different direction.
10. FINISH THE BOOK!!  Because an unfinished book will languish.  Until you finish writing that first book, you'll never know the wild exhilaration of writing THE END.

One more special hint and the reason I'm blogging about this.  Write on, don't edit.  I hear a lot of "But...but..." out there, so here are two great links I found today, which led me to write this blog post.

• Lessons from Oleander–The Dangers of Premature Editing, one of Kristen Lamb's blog posts, this one from yesterday (March 25, 2014).  Short, sweet and to the point.
• 5 Tips for Writing Quickly and Effectively from workawesome.com

Read them.  Think about them.  Ask yourself if you're brave.  Maybe next week we'll look a little closer at what these two blogs/articles have to say.  Why?  Because it's important.  Write on!

Never give up; for even rivers someday wash dams away. ~ Arthur Golden

Halfway Through February Already?

I guess we're firmly entrenched in 2014 now.  It seems like New Year's Day was a week or so ago, when it's been a month and a half.

Yes, time flies.  I'm wondering where the first half of this month has gone.  But it only takes a few seconds to know that mine has been spent putting words on paper...and then changing them.

Author and friend Patricia Davids and I were just exchanging emails about our writing methods.  We each do our writing in a different way.  Her method is to edit and change as she goes along.  Mine is to write a first rough draft and then go back two or three times to change, add and edit.  Both ways are acceptable, both are perfect for each of us.  I've done the go-back method before, and all it does is confuse me.  Not only am I visual, I'm linear.  I start at the beginning and keep writing.  If I think of something that needs changed, I make a note, stick it on my book bible for use later.  After almost 20 years of writing, I find it's better if I do it my way.  That doesn't mean I don't tweak and change my way.  (Please be aware that I typed T W E A K, not t w e r k.)

The Pluses of Plotting
On top of that tic, I also plot.  I didn't start out that way, so maybe that's why I'm linear when I write.  "No plotting for me!" I cried to my critique partners.  Yeah, that didn't last as long as I thought it would.  Even to pansters I have to say, "Know where you're going!"  Why?  Because there's no reason to write half a book, only to dump it because you've come to a dead end or no reason to go back to the beginning and start making huge changes in the story.  This counts especially for new writers, who sometimes tend to have a super idea, but get lost in the telling and go off on tangents that are great for word counts, but not so good for a great story.  Involving a little plotting is a good thing, and in a week or two, I'll go through some ways that can vary.

Continuing to Learn
I was in the middle of reading Alexandra Sokoloff's Writing Love: Screenwriting Tips for Authors II when I had to stop and do other things.  You know, those writing things.  But I went back to it a couple of days ago and picked up where I left off, which was story middles and endings.  She uses examples from both movies and books, which I find to be a great help.  The thing is, none of us ever know everything, and it's always good to find another and another and even another way of looking at our writing.  I think that's another reason I enjoy writing.  I keep learning.

Making Adjustments
This isn't all about me, this is about you, as a writer.  Are you finding that writing has become more difficult?  Are you growing bored with your story, your characters?  Have you come to a place where writing is no longer something you look forward to?  If so, it's time to make some changes.

Change.  It doesn't have to be a big change.  Even changing the font you use could bring about a change.  No, I haven't tried this, but... ☺ What I did do when editing after that first draft is to change the method in which I read.  I tend to do better when I edit on hard copy, so I print the manuscript and go through with a red pen.  I may do an on-computer read-through afterward, finding a few more things that need corrected or changed.  But with the last ms, I uploaded the file to my Kindle, highlighting anything that jumped out at me and making a note of it.  It appeared more as a book than a manuscript and was different than the other two ways.  I've only done it once, but I'm going to try it again.  If it works, great!  If not, I can go back to my old standby of printing again (ouch!) or reading off my computer.

If It Doesn't Work, Try Something New
Never, never, never be afraid to try something new.  It's not as if you threw out that comfy chair and brought in a new one that makes your back ache.  What you did before a change can always be done again.  But I have a feeling that first way may end up being done in a small, but different way.

Love Yourself, Not Your Words
Great for Valentine's Day, right?  But it's true.  Sometimes things don't go right.  If your story is starting to read the wrong way, don't despair.  Words and ways can be adjusted and changed.  If needed, brainstorm with friends--writing friends are the best for this, not Mom or Aunt Jill or Best Friend Charlotte.  They will always LOVE your writing, even when it's bad.  If you're self-publishing, hire yourself a reader or an independent editor.

And when you're done...

Love Your Work
See how I worked that in to Valentine's Day? ;)
It's always a day brightener when an editor adds a note to a manuscript that something you thought funny is funny or something makes he/r smile.  Even better is having a reader tell you s/he loves your book.  In the process of writing, if you aren't loving what you do or something doesn't feel right, stop.  Then think.  If you're sick of writing and ready to throw in the towel, take a mini-vacation from writing and enjoy all the other things that life offers.  And there are so many things besides writing that life offers.  Grab one.  Or two.  Or even three.  But don't go away for long.  If you're really a writer, you'll stick with it.

Always learn through your mistakes.  Doing so is a gift that only we can give ourselves.  And what a perfect day for gifts!  Happy Valentine's Day!!  And pass the candy. ;)

All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt. ~ Charles M. Schulz

The Seasons of our Minds

I started to write this about my favorite season, Autumn, but when I sat down at my keyboard this morning and read the 110 words I'd written, I decided to start over.  We do a lot of that, don't we?  Starting over.

There's nothing wrong with starting over.  It doesn't necessarily mean we give up on something else.  What it really means is that we want to do something better than we did before.

Seasons of nature are always a special time, especially for new beginnings.  Starting over is a part of that.

Last week, I worked on my current WIP, a full proposal for the last book in my Desperation, Oklahoma series for Harlequin American Romance.  It's rough draft stage, so I try not to go back and make big changes.  Well into the second chapter, I had to leave my desk several times to do my daily chauffeuring.  Autumn means school days, as will winter and spring, and I spend a third of my daytime sitting in my car and driving to and fro.  That time sitting is often spent writing or editing.  So with the extra time that day, I started writing a scene in longhand.  After I got home and had some quiet time, I keyed it into a Word document and continued, thinking I'd done a good job.  By the next day, I realized the scene didn't work.  I'd gone off course from my basic idea.  I ended up scrapping it and starting over with the original idea.  Time wasted?  Not at all.

Sometimes our minds instinctively know what's right and what's wrong.  At other times, our minds may take off on a new road or go back and choose a different one.  It may be a smooth road, and it may be a rough one.  The only way to know is to take it.  I drove down what I thought was a smooth road, but it started getting bumpy.  Nearly to the end, I realized I had to start over.  When I did that, everything fell into place on a much smoother road.  There's nothing wrong with starting over.  Tell yourself that and you'll find new freedom.

Autumn is my favorite season.  I think that's because I remember the excitement of school starting after a long summer of too much freedom.  It meant seeing all my friends (and not-so-much-friends) on a regular basis.  I love the colors of autumn.  They invigorate me and make me want to make changes and start new beginnings.  Whether it's the colors of the leaves changing and the grass hibernating, or the new, crisp, colder air that inspires me to make changes, I'm smiling.  This is nature at its best.

This year is especially special.  I'm re-discovering the beauty of autumn.  For the past few years, we've experienced a drought, and the changing of the leaves had been a bit disappointing.  But this year, we've had rain.  The drought is over and nature is in full bloom.  As I drive along the riverbank to drop off or take the kidlets at their grade school or drive through neighborhoods with Maple and Oak trees among the usual Elms, I'm blown away by the vibrant shades of red, orange, yellow leaves that were green, not so long ago.  I need to remember to take my camera, but even taking pictures can't catch the breathtaking beauty of nature this autumn.

Life, too, has cycles, just as our days and seasons do.  At times we're forced into change, but even when it feels uncomfortable or is caused by something we believe isn't good, we eventually adjust and make things better.  We start over, we find a new beginning, and we enter a new season of life.  Make this new season the very best.

Every corny thing that's said about living with nature - being in harmony with the earth, feeling the cycle of the seasons - happens to be true. ~ Susan Orlean