~ First Draft ~

 

  'My own experience is that once a story has been written, 

one has to cross out the beginning and the end. It is there

that we authors do most of our lying.'

                                                               -Anton Chekhov                  

I suppose that quote shall be my fate as I say ..... I've completed the first draft of my latest novel;

'The Bootleggers Wife, a Love Story.'

But oh well, I shall revel in the deliciousness of that first heady flush that comes with typing those small but oh so powerful words; THE END. At this point I can easily convince myself that this labor of love will only need a quick touch up. A comma here, a misplaced quotation mark there, one or perhaps two small typos and voila', I'm done. Certainly nothing that a simple brushstroke can't take care of.

But then the truth of the matter settles in. First Draft....not to be confused with:

Bank Draft

Cold Draft
Rough Draft
Down Draft
Over Draft

Back Draft
But....FIRST DRAFT

The first of several re-writes stare me in the face.
I'm with Mr. Checkhov; for me the first and the last chapters are the most difficult.

The first chapter ,of course, because I'm trying to find the right voice. Each character is unique and wants to tell their story in their own way. I hear them clearly, but the task before me is to insure that YOU hear them as I do. Sometimes it takes a bit to get into the rhythm and find that sweet spot. I have to find my way. By the time I come to the end of my book and I'm totally immersed in my character and her world, it is easy to see where changes need to be made back at the beginning.

The last chapter  is difficult because I'm sprinting to the finish line when I should have been stopping to smell the roses. I'm in such a hurry to get those last words out there, that the last chapter usually needs a lot of work in the re-write stage. But hey, that's what first drafts are all about, right?

Here's a picture of me, the tireless scribe, working on my first novel.

For now, I'm on a short break; a two week leave of absence from the manuscript that has eaten up every spare moment for over six months. It is necessary to step away, to breathe, to gather my thoughts before diving into the deep end. But if the truth be told.........I can't wait.

~ Birds of a Feather ~

  "The difference between the right word and the almost right word, is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug."
                                           -Mark Twain

           

Birds of a feather flock together......so I'm told. And so we did, on Saturday last. Two local writers groups, Ozark Romance Authors and Sleuths Inc, pooled their resources and hosted 'The Mega Critique Group and Write-In Event' at The Creamery Arts Center. There was room at the table for everyone no matter what kind of bird you were. 

What a fabulous way to kick off the new year; with a day devoted to our passion. 

Dozens of people thumbed their noses at the cold January day to sit in a room surrounded with their brothers-in-arms. It is a universal truth that the next best thing to writing, is to be in a room full of like-minded people and talk about writing. In my case it's even better, because my best friend was sitting beside me. Two souls joined at the hip.

Fingers were flying across laptop keyboards. The hushed atmosphere made it all the easier to pick up on the creativity crackling in the air around us. I plugged into the energy and my story soared. Two hours whipped by in the blink of an eye.

Writing is grueling work.....therefore the hoards must be fed. The hosts of our party took good care of us. And once we had been properly fueled up, we were prepared for the last half of our day.

Critique sessions were offered for the brave souls who were willing to put their words on the table and allow strangers to run their fingers through them. Please don't break anything and play nice, I whispered to myself. Encouragement was served up with a smile and a red pen and I am happy to report that no writer walked away from the room bloodied or bruised. 

What stories begun in this room will find their way to the public at large? Who knows. But it was a wonderful day of camaraderie and my battery feels fully charged. I look 2014 in the eye as I roll up my sleeve and say,

BRING IT.

~ Happy New Year ~

"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year."

                                                                                                                          ~Ralph Waldo Emmerson

~ Merry Christmas ~

"And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, 

stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so?

It came without ribbons.

It came without tags.

It came without packages, boxes or bags.

And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. 

Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before.

What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store?

What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more?"

                                                                  -  Dr. Seauss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

Don't let the hustle and the bustle

the hurrying and the scurrying

put a 

Grinch

in your Christmas 

~ Tote That Barge, Lift That Bale ~

Writing novels, to me, is basically a kind of manual labor.The whole process - sitting at your desk, focusing your mind like a laser beam, imagining something out of a blank horizon, creating a story, selecting the right words, one by one, keeping the flow of the story on track - requires far more energy, over a long period, than most people ever imagine. You might not be moving your body around, but there's grueling, dynamic labor going on inside you.
                                            - Haruki Murakami

Hey, don't get me wrong I'm not complaining. If ever there was a LABOR of love, this is it.
But I sometimes think that people assume that one just sits down at their computer and words flow like magic from their fingers. Not so, my fine friends. 

Writing is work, and lots of it. Once a little story line presents itself to you, that is where the trouble begins. You must become a detective, finding out all about your characters, discovering their inner secrets, fears and dreams. This can be a daunting task as some characters are notoriously tight lipped.

You must research their world and know everything about them, even details that will never see the light of day in your story. 

You must plot the story line and have an idea of the ebb and flow, the arc, let alone breaking that all down into individual scenes. If there's research to be done, you dig and dig until you are sure you are presenting an accurate picture. 

Then you begin the writing, staring at a blank page and willing the story to come to life. I'm always nervous to get started,  to get those first words down on the page, to see them, to hear them as I read them aloud.

And then you must be flexible enough to allow the story to breathe......as you're writing it. That is the joy of writing....those are the moments you live for. When something beautiful happens and your fingers are flying over the keys as if possessed by the spirit of the story. 

 I have likened it to the art of pulling taffy. Pushing, pulling, working it until it becomes something smooth and shiny and in the end hopefully a tasty morsel to savor as the sweetness takes its time.

Taffy anyone?

I

~ Research ~

            'Tell the readers a story! Because without a story, you are merely
             using words to prove you can string them together in logical
             sentences.
                                                       -Anne McCaffrey

True Story: Someone asked me while holding my book 'Back to Austen' in their hands and  reading the back blurb, "Is this a story about you?."
My somewhat dumbfounded answer was "Well let's see, since it's about a young woman who falls through time and lands in 1815 England.....I'd have to say....NO?"

The first and often best advice a fresh faced writer will receive from other authors or professionals is;

Write About What You Know.

Well that's all well and good, but let us remember that I was writing a story about a young woman who falls through time and lands in 1815 England !!!!!
Although I certainly have no first hand experience with Time Travel, I have a secret weapon at my disposal to find out everything else I needed to know before sitting down to actually write my story. Perhaps not so secret. After all, it's a tool that most writers embrace and is ultimately a writers best friend,.

Yes. Some might say the boring stuff. But not me. Research brings you in touch with your character's world. This is not only important when writing period dramas, but where ever or when ever your story takes place. Now of course if you're writing a fantasy and you are building a world from scratch ......lucky for you. But for the rest of us, the setting must ring true.

So even though I have been steeping away like a little tea bag in the Regency Era Tea for more years than I care to admit; I still had a lot of research to do. And I firmly believe there is nothing like the authentic flavor that flows naturally into your story just from the fact that you did your homework.

For this particular book I wanted the setting to be a real town in England. Streatham, turned out to be the perfect match. So when Kate is transported to Streatham, there is real history, there are real landmarks. There would be world events that would naturally be part of conversations, and customs of the period that would be part of their everyday lives. My goal was to be accurate without the historical details driving the story. 

But the last thing you want is to have your character set off on some adventure or talking about something that didn't yet exist in their time.Your beloved reader may just slam the book in your face at that point. 

For me, research is the 'getting to know you' period that I enter into with my characters. Although it's easy to sometimes feel as if you're getting bogged down in the minutiae, don't let it overwhelm you.

 There is no need to rush the relationship. Getting to know someone takes time. I love the entire process from start to finish.

So now if you'll please excuse me, while I fall through time.........I have some research to do. 

~ Inspiration~

I love writing. I love the swing and sway of words as they tangle with human emotions.
                                                        -James A. Michener

        

                 
I hear that the single most often asked question a writer gets is: ' where do you get your ideas?' As if we could say , oh there is this great little secret shop on the corner of Main and 1st Street. Oh if only it were that easy.
But inspiration comes to each individual in it's own way. I've heard authors say that merely hearing a name, or a name of a town, can inspire them........seeing a couple in the park, a fragment of a song....almost anything can SPARK the initial thought for a story. Now........filling it out is another thing. Therein lies the work.

For me........inspiration lives in my bathtub.Seriously. It's like all creativity resides there in its dehydrated form and I just need to add water.Once I sink up to my chin in the steamy hot water, the bubbles work their magic and stories float to the surface for me to capture.

 In the case of 'Back to Austen' the entire story from start to finish was waiting in my bathtub. And I just had to transcribe the images I was seeing dance before my eyes, almost as if I was at a drive in movie.

The second novel ( my current work in progress) came to me the same way. But I do know that this is a bit of an anomaly. Most people start with some small nugget of an idea and then let it simmer and brew until a story starts to take shape. My other stories have come to me like ghosts crossing over from the other side. I'm not sure what I'm seeing at first, a glimpse, a hint, a whisper of........something. Then slowly they reveal themselves to me, as they step out of the shadows and begin to tell me about themselves. Each one totally different from the last and they each want to tell their story in their own way, because they are after all , individuals. I love it.

I have said to friends that I'm like Haley Barber's character in the the movie Sixth Sense where he says "I see dead people."
But instead I say "I see stories"  HA!

But however the initial thoughts come to pass, it is the fleshing out of the story that takes time and an attentive ear. Yes, one must listen to the characters for they will guide you and tell you where they wish to go. If you are willing they will lead you on a fascinating journey. I remember reading once that Michelangelo said that he never knew what he was going to carve until the stone spoke to him and showed him what beautiful image was waiting to be set free. I feel much the same way about my characters, I give them the freedom to speak for themselves and on several occasions I have been pleasantly surprised.

So here's to the journey. I've got a bath to take!!!!