Yesterday, I talked about how I didn't get much writing done--ninety-nine words to be exact. It was the first paragraph of Chapter thirteen.
Today, however, as a result of our crazy testing schedule, I got to work at the same time (6:15 a.m.), but I didn't need to stop writing until almost 8 o'clock. I wrote for over an hour and a half. In essence, I completed the rest of the scene that began with the first paragraph I created yesterday and continued on until I reached the cliffhanger that rounded out the scene. And upon reflection, for a first draft, it holds up pretty well.
word count goal: 500. final word count: 1,367.
Furthermore, just before I finished the writing session, I created a list of bullet items outlining what had to happen between now and the end of the book. A little polishing later in the morning (while my fourth period, or as I call them "my dream class," tested), and I could envision the entire end of the book more clearly than I ever had before. Once printed, I took the list of bullet items and penciled in possible chapter breaks to get a sense of the structure. And, as if by magic, they broke down into a very neat and orderly progression of scenes.
It was a thrill not only to get in the zone and produce an entire scene--that didn't completely suck--but it was also very exciting to see the light at the end of the tunnel of the entire project.
Overall, a very productive and successful writing day!
Friday, April 24, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
DAVID SEDARIS, 99 WORDS, AND WHY I WRITE
Recently, though a strange succession of events, I actually read a complete book by humor essayist David Sedaris. For years I've been flipping through his books at the bookstore and laughing out loud so hard I have to put the book back on the shelf because people start to look and I am embarrassed. At that point I usually think, "I have to buy one of his books sometime."
But until recently, I never had. When I finally did, and read through a collection of his essays, he became one of my new favorite writers. Sure, he was funny, but when you were least expecting it, he would lay in an image or a detail or make a connection or share an idea that would make your breath leave your body or, quite simply, break your heart.
Through Sedaris, I was reminded of what a profound pleasure it was to read really good writing. I was reminded about how black marks on the page, elements like word choice, detail, syntax, and structure could ultimately have an escalating and then, all at once collective emotional impact on you. Not to mention, reading good writing was like eating dessert to me-- think hot caramel sundae, New York cheesecake, creme brulee.
It was that good.
And in the same way that a good dessert makes you want to cook or bake, good writing makes you want to write.
***
So I came in today to do my 500 words on School Spirit. But my head wasn't really in the game. There were some things on my mind, some work called to me, and we're in the middle of a crazy and especially stressful testing schedule at the school where I work. But in an attempt to be a self-disciplined writer, I sat down to do my job. 500 words in thirty minutes. That's my goal. That's my mantra. So I began Chapter Thirteen and I wrote ninety-nine words. Not fifteen hundred or one thousand words, but ninety-nine. And I sat back and I looked at those ninety-nine words and thought, okay, interesting syntax, a couple passable images, a smooth style. Not so bad. I didn't meet my quota, but what I wrote didn't completely suck. And that counts for something, I thought.
And I do, truly believe that.
***
For whatever reason, it was just the other day when my wife committed to a middle grade novel that she had had for years. My wife has no desire, as far as I know, to be a fiction writer. That said, I've always told her that I knew she was a fine writer and an avid enough reader to put the two together and tell some excellent stories if she so chose. On top of that, the idea she came up with was pure money.
In an effort to help, I was digging through a box of old writing books I have to see if I had any manuals that would help her. In doing so, I found an old book of essays called Why I Write, and I read an essay by short story writer Thom Jones, a writer I've always admired. His writing was so passionate and electric and, at the same, so down-to-earth and so real, that it made me think back to the ninety-nine words I'd written earlier in the morning and want to pitch them in the trash.
That's the paradox: good writing makes you both want to write and makes you feel that there is absolutely NO POSSIBLE WAY that you could match what you're seeing in print.
Great writing inspires, but it also paralyzes.
The bottom line?
You must write anyway.
You must, always, sit in the chair and type.
End of story.
But until recently, I never had. When I finally did, and read through a collection of his essays, he became one of my new favorite writers. Sure, he was funny, but when you were least expecting it, he would lay in an image or a detail or make a connection or share an idea that would make your breath leave your body or, quite simply, break your heart.
Through Sedaris, I was reminded of what a profound pleasure it was to read really good writing. I was reminded about how black marks on the page, elements like word choice, detail, syntax, and structure could ultimately have an escalating and then, all at once collective emotional impact on you. Not to mention, reading good writing was like eating dessert to me-- think hot caramel sundae, New York cheesecake, creme brulee.
It was that good.
And in the same way that a good dessert makes you want to cook or bake, good writing makes you want to write.
***
So I came in today to do my 500 words on School Spirit. But my head wasn't really in the game. There were some things on my mind, some work called to me, and we're in the middle of a crazy and especially stressful testing schedule at the school where I work. But in an attempt to be a self-disciplined writer, I sat down to do my job. 500 words in thirty minutes. That's my goal. That's my mantra. So I began Chapter Thirteen and I wrote ninety-nine words. Not fifteen hundred or one thousand words, but ninety-nine. And I sat back and I looked at those ninety-nine words and thought, okay, interesting syntax, a couple passable images, a smooth style. Not so bad. I didn't meet my quota, but what I wrote didn't completely suck. And that counts for something, I thought.
And I do, truly believe that.
***
For whatever reason, it was just the other day when my wife committed to a middle grade novel that she had had for years. My wife has no desire, as far as I know, to be a fiction writer. That said, I've always told her that I knew she was a fine writer and an avid enough reader to put the two together and tell some excellent stories if she so chose. On top of that, the idea she came up with was pure money.
In an effort to help, I was digging through a box of old writing books I have to see if I had any manuals that would help her. In doing so, I found an old book of essays called Why I Write, and I read an essay by short story writer Thom Jones, a writer I've always admired. His writing was so passionate and electric and, at the same, so down-to-earth and so real, that it made me think back to the ninety-nine words I'd written earlier in the morning and want to pitch them in the trash.
That's the paradox: good writing makes you both want to write and makes you feel that there is absolutely NO POSSIBLE WAY that you could match what you're seeing in print.
Great writing inspires, but it also paralyzes.
The bottom line?
You must write anyway.
You must, always, sit in the chair and type.
End of story.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
PACING CONCERNS
As I said in the last post, the manuscript is weighing in at 138 pages. I was hoping for a first draft of between 200-220 pages, but in my outline, I don't forsee having another 62 pages of material, and I don't want to pad--especially toward the end and heading into the climax.
I'm hoping things get worked out in the second draft. This is, after all, the least-outlined book I've ever written. I've been trusting that the process will take me somewhere worth going and that I can add what I need to stitch it together later, tightening up the plot and pacing sometime after the first draft.
At least that's the plan. We'll see how it goes.
I'm still enjoying pushing nouns and verbs together, though, and I guess that's the whole point.
I'm hoping things get worked out in the second draft. This is, after all, the least-outlined book I've ever written. I've been trusting that the process will take me somewhere worth going and that I can add what I need to stitch it together later, tightening up the plot and pacing sometime after the first draft.
At least that's the plan. We'll see how it goes.
I'm still enjoying pushing nouns and verbs together, though, and I guess that's the whole point.
SPRING BREAK AND BEYOND
Intending to get some work done on the novel, I lugged my school laptop home over our two week Spring Break. At the time, I was in the middle of Chapter 12, where Drew and his best friend Ben visit the makeshift shrine people constructed in honor of Drew's dead girlfriend. The shrine is situated at the guardrail where her car went over and into the canyon.
Even though it was a basically leisurely and relaxing Spring Break, I took the laptop out only once and cleaned up a little bit of what was already written. Consequently, I lost about two weeks of writing time.
Today is our third day back from vacation and, although I didn't write Monday in deference to preparing for teaching re-entry, I did write yesterday and today, finishing and printing chapter 12.
The manuscript is now at a respectable 138 pages.
Even though it was a basically leisurely and relaxing Spring Break, I took the laptop out only once and cleaned up a little bit of what was already written. Consequently, I lost about two weeks of writing time.
Today is our third day back from vacation and, although I didn't write Monday in deference to preparing for teaching re-entry, I did write yesterday and today, finishing and printing chapter 12.
The manuscript is now at a respectable 138 pages.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
THE NEWEST MILESTONE. . .
I just spell-checked and printed chapter 11.
I now have 126 pages of completed manuscript.
This means I'm more than halfway through the first draft which, at the outside, I expect to come in at about 220 pages.
I'M AT THE HALFWAY POINT!!
I'm most of the way through the rising action and hurtling toward the climax.
And if you've ever hurtled toward a climax, you know exciting that can be.
Disclaimer: The management apologizes for that cheap and tasteless, and thoroughly politically incorrect, reference--despite how it made me giggle like a little girl to write it.
I now have 126 pages of completed manuscript.
This means I'm more than halfway through the first draft which, at the outside, I expect to come in at about 220 pages.
I'M AT THE HALFWAY POINT!!
I'm most of the way through the rising action and hurtling toward the climax.
And if you've ever hurtled toward a climax, you know exciting that can be.
Disclaimer: The management apologizes for that cheap and tasteless, and thoroughly politically incorrect, reference--despite how it made me giggle like a little girl to write it.
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