Drawing from the Well
Outline: Done
Chapter Mapping: Done
Scene Mapping: Next
What do all these words mean? I’ll go into that in a couple of weeks.
For now, know that I’m diving into deeper levels of minutiae in my pre-drafting process and getting closer to actual drafting. As I said this morning:
Book III is a big book. Just the outline is 28,000 words so there’s a lot in here. And that’s with very little world-building which isn’t as necessary since we’re already in the third book. Things are shaping up, though. I’ve channeled those 28k words into a framework that will soon FILL with prose to take the characters and future readers on a journey. It’s going to be a wild ride and I can’t wait.
Filling the Well
I’m finally picking up steam again. I finished 3 books this week. The Emperor’s Railroad was okay but didn’t hold my attention as much as I would like. The 5th Wave was as good as it should have been since it was adapted into a movie. Having seen the movie, I saw most of the twists coming, though I forgot some until they happened and then I said, “OOOOOH! That’s right!” As for Frostborn: The Gray Knight, I didn’t think I would like it at first, but once I figured out that it is a traditional sword and sorcery. After that, I got into it more after that and then the plot and characters snagged me and I ended up enjoying it enough to continue the series, so I’m reading the Eightfold Knife now.
I also got into podcasts this week so I’m catching up on Your Mom Writes Books by Charlie N. Holmberg and Caitlyn McFarland. It’s just great. They talk craft and they’re goofy and hilarious.
38. The Emperor’s Railroad
39. The 5th Wave
40. Frostborn: The Gray Knife
40/100 toward #ProjectBookworm2021
Well Chat
So you’re ready to write. Your mind is open, your notes are handy, and you’ve pumped yourself up.
But the words just won’t come. How do you overcome it?
The biggest factor for me is focusing and channeling my thoughts. I set things up so that when I sit down to write, all I have to do is write. I don’t have to come up with what I’m going to write, I just have to craft the prose. I tend to start in the morning when the house is quietest, put on some lyrics-free music, and use a program that is distraction-free, which for me is yWriter 7.
How do you put this into practice? Find your “shinies” and determine how to eliminate them. If social media calls to you when you boot up your computer, put it in airplane mode for your writing time. If it’s having your thoughts scattered, meditate first. If it’s noise in your house or your head, put in ear plugs or play some music.
One thing that helps me is using the pomodoro method for writing. It’s specifically for task management, but I use it for writing. You can adjust the timing, but mine is 15 minutes writing and 5 minutes resting. In an hour, I get 3 rounds in. When I really hit flow, I can bust out 1000 words in 15 minutes. Why? I already said it: because I hit flow.
I’ve talked about Shiny Object Syndrome before so I won’t be belabor the point now. The point is that you clear everything out of the way that could possibly distract you and then engage Writing Mode. You’ve got to be like Crush from Finding Nemo and get into flow. Once you’re there, the words just come.
Last tip on this: Give yourself permission to write crap. If you’re drafting like me in this scenario, your first draft is absolutely going to be crap. Terry Pratchett said it best when he said, “The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.” In some ways, you don’t even know what you’re writing yet. You HAVE to edit after that so who cares if it’s not perfect? Accept that it won’t be and that takes the pressure off. Reduce the pressure and you open the valve for more words.
So get out there, quiet the noise, and write all the words. Next week, we’ll get into how to plan ahead and organize things to maximize the effect of the flow we created here.
May the tide carry you to safer shores.
BSG