Blame it on the pros.
On drafting (and cherry-picking some mentors to suit my current writing needs.)
Hello, reader!
I thought I’d write to you today about something that’s very relevant to me right now, which is writing a first draft. I’m in the throes of drafting my sixth (!) YA novel (which, if you ever catch my Instagram stories, I call #Book6 but which we’ll refer to here as OED, the acronym of its working title.)
Drafting is different for every writer. Some love it, others not so much (I’m partial to the revision stage, myself) but the good thing about this being my 6th (!!) YA novel, is that I know now not to sweat it.
For a while there, a first draft for me came hand-in-hand with a lot of despair. A feeling, without fail, of wanting to rip my hair out, or bang my head against a wall, perhaps. So violent. But getting the words out often felt like pulling teeth. This is especially true if you mean to get the words out perfectly in your first go. It takes time to learn that that is seldom the right way to go, but it’s all part of the baby-writer process.
Plus, there’s the rollercoaster of emotions. You start with the idea, it’s super shiny and everything’s going great, and then suddenly you get to a hard stretch in the manuscript and you’re in freefall. Halfway through the writing of the thing, you get the sinking sense that the very idea you loved so much—the one shining beacon that is supposed to be the only good and pure and radiant part of the process—is actually terrible. But miraculously, somewhere along the way, if you haven’t chucked the unfinished manuscript, you might even start to like the book again. All writers ride the rollercoaster.
I wouldn’t call myself a pantser (a writer who writes by the “seat of their pants”) but I’m also not a diligent plotter. I start off with a flimsy, unfinished outline. I know what the story’s about and what my ending will—probably—be, but my middle? It’s murky. With every book I have only been sure of the scenes a few chapters in advance. Meaning, if I’m working on chapter 10, I have an outline that goes up to chapter 13ish. But chapter 21? I won’t know what happens in chap 21 until I know what happens in chap 18. And I won’t know chap 18 until I have chap 15 down pat. You get the idea.
I picked up a book on writing by Patricia Highsmith and was surprised to learn that she had a similar approach.
“I often reach a point beyond which I cannot think, cannot make an outline, and I become impatient to see something on paper, and so I begin—and I trust to my luck, or to the momentum of the story, to carry me on.”
~ Patricia Highsmith
She also had this neat little nugget in the book, which has change my whole entire mind about sleeping:
“For those who can, a nap is a time-saver, not a time-waster.”
~ Patricia Highsmith
🤯
One thing I like to do while I’m drafting is pick up a new book about the craft of writing. For OED I picked up Highsmith’s book. But the two craft books that have stayed with me are John Truby’s The Anatomy of Story, and
’s Consider This. Both are essential imo, but I’ve taken two specific points from Chuck’s book to heart with this draft. My new writing maxims.“Every story is an experiment.”
~Chuck Palahniuk
Part of no longer worrying about the messy first draft is 1) acknowledging the mess and 2) realizing that mess should be—nay, needs to be—part of the process. Mess is good! Experimentation for me has led to a more fun process. Sure, in revision you might delete a lot more than you originally would have, but you also might uncover something great about the manuscript.
One of the things I’m experimenting with in OED is showing vs. telling. A pretty biggie, in terms of tried and true rules. We’ve all been taught to show, not tell. But I say screw it! I’m doing a lot of telling in this book. And you know what? I love it. My editor may read the manuscript and tell me to cut it out and go back to the accepted form, and if she does, that’s okay. Maybe I’ll change it all, or maybe I won’t. 💁♀️ But man, it’s fun trying it on for size.
The other thing from Chuck’s book that I’ve taken to heart is a quote from his mentor, Tom Spanbauer:
At the writing of this newsletter I have reached the midpoint of my first draft. And that is as far as I’ve outlined. The way the book is structured, the story is split into two parts. I have no idea what happens in Part 2 and boy have I written myself into a million corners! But instead of the fear I would have felt about these plotholes before, I am now giving myself the freedom to feel excited instead. To embrace the mystery of this story.
Before, I would’ve been anxious to figure this story out.
Now I think, maybe the only way to figure it out is to truly let myself get lost in it.
Patricia has something to say about this, too.
“I have to think of my own entertainment, and I like surprises myself. If I know everything that is going to happen, it is not so much fun writing it.”
~Patricia Highsmith
So, in conclusion, I don’t know what I’m doing. I don’t know if this plan will work. I don’t know where this story is going.
But I’m really excited to find out.
Author's Note: So, after doing more research on Highsmith I discovered she was a raging antisemite. As such, I really can't recommend any of her work.
UPDATES
Boundless is out now!
Edited by Ismée Williams and Rebecca Balcárcel, Boundless is an anthology of YA and MG stories dealing with multicultural and multiracial identities. My story is about two cheeky Jewish-Latinx teens at a synagogue's casino night. High steaks! Gambling! Think George Clooney and JLo in Out of Sight except me instead of Soderbergh.
And of course your gentle reminder that you can pre-order my 5th (!!!) YA novel, Just Say Yes!
