Rehearsal notes for Your Rough Draft

Have you ever been in, or watched a play rehearsal? The actors have their scripts and pencils in hand, and as the director calls out his suggestions, the actors take notes. Perhaps, an actor delivers his line in a bold voice and the director decides the line should be spoken soft and sharp. The actor scribbles his suggestion in his script. Sometimes the director will have the actors repeat the scene with the new notes, or sometimes, the director's comments and suggestions will be taken and performed at the next rehearsal.
 If every comment from the director is expected to be hashed out by the actor at that very moment, then opening night would be pushed back further and further. Actors take notes so they can apply them to their next take on that scene.
And this is how we as writers should consider our rough drafts. When we write our stories for the first time we should focus on developing our character arc and plot. Any reworked scenes or added ones, holes in research, loss of words, should be noted for later.
It's easy to get caught up in perfection and continually go back and edit and fill in and rewrite, but that opening night (the final "the end" or the agent appointment) will fade in the distance.

Here are a few ways I prevent my momentum from stalling as I truck along on my rough draft:

Holes in Research: Whether you need to research an Old West saloon or a pyschotherapist's office in upstate New York, most novels need research of some sort to maintain their believability. Unless your research is key to moving character and plot forward, I suggest listing out your research needs as you go. In my rough draft, I put them at the top of Chapter One, so the first thing I will do in my edits is fill in the research gaps. (Blogger cuts off some of my files, but you'll get the gist)

 Loss of Words: It's hard to believe a writer would have a loss for words, but please tell me I am not the only one! I could pour out wonderful sentences and type deep pov, but without fail, I'll have a word here or there that just doesn't feel right, or is not coming to me at that moment. Also, I might need a proper name (like in my example) and I don't want to stop my pace to search for it. This is where the highlight tool in Word-like programs comes into use. It's a great way to point out repetative words or cliches to be touched up in the next draft round.
 Scene Ideas: When you are trying to hash out characters, you might realize that you need another scene to give the reader insight into something specific...Or, if your plot jumps in an unnatural way, say, your heroine falls in love with the hero just after she learns something awful about him, you'll realize a scene might need to squeeze in to enhance your story. My problem is, if I have gotten to one part in the story that I am pumped about where it's going, I may not be in the mood to go back and write THAT new scene at that moment. So, I make a note (like below) and save that scene for later, but giving myself enough of a note so I remember what I wanted to write.
 Future Chapters: Some of you plotters might think this next one is ridiculous. But trust me, for this wanna-be plotter who just gets carried away with writing ahead of myself, this has helped me immensely. At the end of my rough draft, I always list out my future chapters with a snippet of what is going to happen. When I go on to the next chapter, I have a reminder of what's to come (I include the page numbers to help with my pacing).

 For example,  

105-115- Chapter 13- Leanna confronts Stavi about his wife...it's not the same. Stavi says you were angry with him for all this time...anger... 

Yeah, I usually change it around, or come up with something different, but it's nice to have the future laid out so I can purposefully move my novel forward. I usually tweak these as I think and type, and as my characters inevitably take me in new directions.

Your turn. What do you do to keep your momentum in your rough draft without getting caught up in editing? Do you think this is different for plotters vs. pantsters?
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Angie Dicken first began writing fiction as a creative outlet during the monotonous days of diapers and temper tantrums. She is passionate to impress God's love on women regardless of their background or belief. This desire serves as a catalyst for Angie's fiction, which weaves salvation and grace themes across cultures. She is an ACFW member and CEO of a family of six.

 

Prune Hard and Risk Mess: Lessons in Writing from the Garden

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My husband and I moved to a new house two years ago. The first year we were clueless about how to handle the garden. Let’s just say I’m an “indoor gal” and my husband has been termed the “mushroom” for similar reasons.

Now our garden still looks like a mess, it’s a mess in process…

Hmmm…not unlike my current editing project. I like to see it as mess with potential.

Along the way the lessons I’ve learned about my garden could just as easily apply to my manuscript:

Just do something. We spent time formulating the perfect garden arrangement until we realized we were victims of the infamous analysis paralysis. Nothing in our garden was going to look pretty until we started making some decisions.

On a recent loop someone mentioned that they didn’t have time to write at this a stage of life but read many craft books and kept a folder of information. I’ve been there. Its like spending hours pouring through the Harris Seed catalogue while your garden lies untended and neglected.

Its your garden. The former home owner had cultivated an all-white garden. It was beautiful, full of daisies, lilies of the valley, jonquils, and carnations. But it wasn’t our garden. It didn’t fit us.

Likewise, no one else can write your book. Don’t allow yourself to be discouraged. Remember that God gave you this story, not someone else. Likewise, you can’t force yourself into a mold that doesn’t fit who God created you to be.

Mess comes before beauty. Last year we did some weeding, a process that takes continual repeating. Then we covered the ground with mulch. Not attractive.

Think of your first draft. Sometimes we have trouble allowing the ugliness, forgetting that what we are working with is the bare mulch. I let perfectionism rear its ugly head.

Throughout the messy period, keep your vision alive. Without a vision for what your story can be there is little motive to slog through. Think of the finished product. What are you aiming for and allow yourself to celebrate progress along the way as things get less messy.

Be willing to prune back hard. When my husband and I attended a seminar on bonsai, we learned that the best bonsai artists are willing to risk overpruning. They cut back, often until there is only one main branch.

Editing for me has been a heavy rewriting process. So far the removal percentage has been high, higher than what I’ve kept. Attempting edits the first time I was tempted to just ditch this manuscript and start something new.

But I take a lot of hope in the gardening process. Because sweat pouring down brows, dirt-encrusted fingernails, aching knees are all the beginning of what has the potential for beauty. It will need lots of tending and the process of making the garden your own often takes multiple years. As I watch the daffodils and jonquils pop up in my garden I’m hopeful of small beginnings.

What does a season of new beginnings mean for your writing? Is there anything you want to change in your writing life this spring as a writer in process? 

Julia enjoys writing women's fiction whenever she can find a chair free of smushed peanut butter sandwiches and lego blocks. She is a wife and homeschooling mama of two littles. She also enjoys reading and reviewing books for The Title Trakk, a Christian review site. 

Tell Yourself You're Brilliant and Revise Like a Madwoman

These were two insights I gained from a recent writer's workshop.

There is a wonderful organization in this area that sponsors an annual event, "What If All of ____ Read the Same Book?" Are there any towns in your area that participate in this event?  If so, I highly recommend investigating it. This is the first year I attended one of the events, but I plan to make it an annual outing.

The author I was priviliged to hear is Hannah Tinti, author of The Good Thief. Please note that this is an endorsement only of the information shared at the workshop.

The information in Tinti's workshop was tremendously helpful, even though I am not using it at this stage in my journey.  That's because her topic was revision and I'm following her first draft advice to the letter: Turn off your internal editor! Get it down! Have fun!

How many drafts do you write? Hannah wrote 15 for The Good Thief, which originally weighed in at over 600 pages and is now under half that total.

A quote I particularly liked was "your writing is a jigsaw puzzle you created, you have the solution."  I've thought about this quote several times since. If I truly allow Christ to direct my writing day by day it doesn't mean I'm not working by a plan, but that I should be prepared for the plan to change without much notice. 

Do you struggle with making messy first drafts?  Oh, boy, can I relate.

In college writing classes, Tinti's intstructor challenged her to produce one page of the worst writing possible.  This then freed them from fear of failure. 

When I sit down to write these last few weeks I preface my session with telling myself "you are free to write the worst possible."  Its freeing, and I have not produced my worst work ever.  In fact, I think this allowance has improved my rough draft as I've also allowed myself to "disobey" my outline and allowed the story to move more freely.

At the end of each draft Tinti advises telling ourselves we're brilliant, having a "draft" party...THEN waking up the next day and ruthlessly revising. 

Now, I'm not quite ready for my draft party....BUT I am ready to party with you in celebration of over 300 followers.  I have 2 books up for the grabs to TWO lucky commenters: Lady in Waiting by Susan Meissner and Petra by T.L. Higley. 

Tell me a bit about your revision process, if you're working on a novel.  Is it difficult for you to free yourself up to write your first draft?  How many times have you revised a work-in-progress?

Be sure to include your email address and which book you would like to read.  The winner will be announced in Saturday's post.