Reflecting and Rediscovering Your Reasons

I had a busy summer this year. 

Back in March I had an idea for a new manuscript. It was one of those moments several writers have experienced, just walking around and living life when the brain goes off on one of its semi-frequent divergent meanderings and BAM!, you stumble on one of those golden “What if” questions that sets off an avalanche of possibilities. Before long, you start to realize that, yes, there is a legitimately viable story idea coming together. 

It was exciting to have something new come on so strong. I decided immediately I wanted to do it right. I was going to have tons of writing time available in the summer, so I gave the idea the rest of the spring to percolate. I filled the whiteboard in my office with comp titles coming from other books, movies, television shows, video games, and even podcasts. I began tapping idea fragments into a massive list on my phone. I sought out middle grade titles that felt similar to my idea in one way or another, to measure what the boundaries were for the story I was planning and figure out how I might be able to push them.

Once the work started, it came fast. I wrote chronologically with only a rough outline in my head, something I’ve never done before. When the draft was finished, I stepped away for a few weeks, giving my head some time to clear while waiting for feedback. When I got back to it, I powered through the revisions at a challenging pace with an approximate deadline in mind. There was a day or two of sweet relief when I finally reached that goal, but then I started feeling an itch….

I knew NaNoWrimo 2017 would be starting in less than a week. I've been a semi-regular participant over time, but have sat out the past two years due to other writing projects and different commitments. I thought about giving it a try this year, and came up with a number of reasons why it seemed like a good idea: I’ve always enjoyed participating; it would be an amazing feather in my cap if I could lay claim to drafting two complete manuscripts inside of the same calendar year; I had been hit with another idea — not exactly a new idea but one from the vault I wanted to try someday, and the time was feeling right. Since I thought it could be at least a few weeks until I was in a position to do any other revisions on the new manuscript, I decided to sign up.

The thing was, as much as I love this new idea, there is little reason for me to think it will ever see the light of day. I’m a writer of middle grade fiction. This new project would be a memoir, based around one particular area of my life, and not really directed at a middle grade audience. I have no nonfiction platform in this area, so as far as publishing aspirations go, it seems like it’d be a tremendous long shot. Really the only reason I would have for taking on this project is because I want to write it so much.

I felt just as passionate about my middle grade story earlier in the year when I was working on it. The big difference is I wrote that knowing it had a decent chance of eventually being ready for submission, and hopefully would get as far as publication someday. This new one might end up only being something for me and, hopefully, friends and family to enjoy.

It has me thinking:
*Why do we write?
*Is it for the love of it? 
*Do we let goals dictate or influence which projects we commit to?
*Would we still throw ourselves into the work as completely, even if we knew nobody else would ever read it?
*What benefits are there for jumping outside of the box and exploring new areas, just for the sake of exploring?

Not everyone would have the same answers to these questions. Maybe it’s not such a bad thing to occasionally consider the reasons we have for choosing this life. It might reveal something about our choices, or it could provide us with a renewed focus. 

All I know is that right now, with literally hours until NaNoWriMo begins, I’m looking forward to whatever self-discovery comes along with this new project, both personally and from the perspective of pure writing. I think it’s going to be a good month. 

To anyone else out there about to take on NaNo this year, or just entering a new stage of a current work-in-progress, I’d encourage you to reflect on it. You might discover some interesting things.

The Playlist Process

I have a slight problem with the manuscript I’m working on.

It isn’t related to plot; I feel like I’ve got the mental outline pretty much put together, leaving enough room for the story to continue evolving as I write. It isn’t really about character, either; even though this story has a lot of characters, I have a decent grasp on who each of them are, who they’ll become by the end, and how they relate to each other. The problem definitely isn’t about voice; that’s coming through well so far, maybe because I’m allowing myself to write with a voice I’ve wanted to use for a long time, but haven’t found the right project for until now. 

My problem is I still haven’t put together a writing playlist.

Now, do I need a writing playlist for this? Thankfully, no. The story is coming along surprisingly well. Would I like to have a playlist providing the soundtrack for this journey? Most certainly yes. Finding the right music has always been an important part of the writing process for me. I wrote my first manuscript while listening to nothing but the same thirty Bruce Hornsby songs on shuffle, usually during the time of day when light from the sunset poured in the front windows and filled my house, just because all of that gave me something close to a tangible expression of the tone I was trying to create. I wrote another manuscript mostly after dark with all the lights off, listening the scariest Iron Maiden songs I could find, as well as a few others that matched up with that creep factor. One year during NaNoWriMo I had a playlist of over two hundred songs that dripped emotional catharsis, to help me get in the head of a character pulled in nine different directions by everything she was struggling to understand. I’ll use these songs and the feelings they inspire to guide my voice, and, if I’m being honest about it, to help visualize what it might be like if, say, my story ever became a movie and needed a soundtrack. After all, isn’t a good part of the writing somehow tied to trying to live out hopes and dreams and speculation?

Truthfully though, I’ve never needed much of a reason to assemble playlists. I’ll put them together for road trips, or school work days when the students aren’t around, or to have playing in the background when I have guests, or even just because it feels like a day to listen to nothing but music released between 1997 and 2004. Applying this hobby (habit?) to my writing seemed natural.

Back before I found my way to the online writing community, I thought it was mildly self-indulgent to be so insistent about finding the perfect music to pair up with whatever I was writing. Then I started connecting with other writers, and discovered many had similar habits. A lot crafted playlists just as I did, but others didn’t stop there: They made Pinterest boards based on what their characters looked like. They compared different aspects of their characters to other well-known characters from books and movies and TV shows. Some even tried matching up settings with appropriately scented candles. They had favorite locations to write, rituals and routines they followed, and reward systems to keep themselves motivated. It seemed that nearly everyone populating this magical online writing domain was, in one way or another, searching for and leaning on the same kind of creative self-support I had been using all along. 

That discovery made my propensity for playlists seem, if anything, less like an idiosyncrasy and more like a legitimate part of the writing process, at least for me. That circles back to the simple truth that everyone approaches their writing differently, and whatever process works for each individual is just as legitimate as anything else. 

Of course, this still leaves me working without a playlist for this new project, or even any first steps in the direction toward finding one. I still have a long way to go though, so I know the right songs will eventually present themselves.

I’m just really looking forward to finding out what they’ll be.

Preparing to Write Your First Draft

I'm about to begin the first draft of my sixth book.  Before you think that's an accomplishment, I should advise you that:

a) the first book I wrote, It's a Mystery, Pig Face! took YEARS from draft one to publication (oh wait, it's not published YET...)
b) the second book I wrote, three years ago, is only being revisited now, thanks to my abject fear that it probably sucks
c) the third book I wrote is a sequel to the first book. No one was actually looking for this book and it is clear now that it will NEVER be the sequel to the first book. It's only chance of seeing light of day is if I suddenly become rich and famous and my fans clamor to see it. Yuh-huh...
d) the fourth book lies abandoned on the side of the road in the dark world that is my computer
e) the fifth book is currently out on submission, which makes my stomach hurt.

I can say, unequivocally, that I only started getting the hang of preparing to write with the fifth book.

Prior to that, I got an idea and started writing. Those were happier days, but ultimately, less satisfying, because I always ended up trapped in the middle of the book looking for a way out.

And the revisions? Brutal. Total rewrites and clean-ups.

The process I'm using for this YA novel is similar to what I used for the fifth book:

1) I have an inspiration

2) I have no idea what to do with that inspiration

Me, having no idea...
This is how little vanity I have left...

3) I research. I read things to help me refine the idea - in the book I am about to start, one of the characters has a brain injury. I am reading about brain injuries, watching documentaries and will soon do some interviews, all to make sure what I put on paper is as true as it can be. I take copious notes.

via GIPHY

4) I stare out the window a lot and go for long walks. If it's Spring or Summer, I might garden. This is both to assist my imagination and to procrastinate

5) I may or may not surf the net endlessly (see #4 above)



via GIPHY

6) I write and rewrite a one page synopsis, so I know where I'm going (which will bear almost no resemblance to the final product, I'm sure)

7) I write a three or four page summary (see #6 above)

8) I do some more pre-plotting and character analysis. One of the tools I have found very useful is Kristen Kieffer's She's Novel website (which is full of great supports for writers) Pre-Write Project Tool. It was worth the money ($7) to buy, because I can use it multiple times and it makes me think about my plot and characters. You can get yours here.

9) I read really good books. I love reading award winners before I start draft one - the excellent writing inspires me and reminds me of what I am aiming for.

What I'm reading right now. Brilliant!

10) I outline. I do a spreadsheet that breaks down every chapter and every scene, flags who is in the scene and the point of them being in the scene, how it relates to the theme, tracks my date and time and how it relates to the overall story arc. Then I draw myself a picture and track it using a plot planner.

The plot planner is something I picked up from a course I did with Martha Alderson, whose book The Plot Whisperer was very helpful in getting my seeing my story from the hero's journey perspective.

If you want to see some examples, visit my Pinterest board here.

As well, Jami Gold has some awesome worksheets on her website that are helpful at this point.

11) Finally, I get so itchy to write, I begin. And the first draft is always sloppy, but hey, that's what revisions are for, right?



via GIPHY

It may seem like a lot of work, but I find that with preparation, my writing process is SO much easier!

How about you? What's your first draft process? I'd love to hear about it!

Until next time: Keep writing!