Been a while since I've done a writing post, but since I believe in talking about the process, I thought I'd pop in on my progress with the next book.
I'm in the middle of the fourth draft of the book, and it's proving to be a major re-write. That's fine, I'm really excited about it.
But at the same time, this has been the hardest book I've had to write. Things I thought were working aren't. It took 3 drafts just to figure out who all the characters were. I've learned a lot from writing this book.
Things I've Learned:
-Being dedicated and disciplined. This the first book where I've sat down and wrote at least 1,000 words every day. I've heard authors talk about it and preach doing that. But my first two books were based off writing hot streaks, where I'd cracked out 20K in a week or 40 pages on a weekend. That didn't work on this book. I've really had to crack down and sit and write as much as I can. I wrote on the train to Bouchercon. I wrote at Bouchercon. I wrote on the train back. (The key to this is now "Ooooh, I'm with a bunch of writers, I should write." It's I want to get the book done, and I don't want to lose momentum.) I ignored phone calls. I've eaten really late. But I got the words down on the page. In terms of revision, I was off from school this week. I tried to get ahead of schedule during that time and right now am 1,500 words ahead of where I thought I'd be up to even yesterday. Writing is a job and I'm finally trying to treat it as one.
-Using deadlines for inspiration (more about writing as a job). I've tried to give myself deadlines on this project, as I don't have an airtight deadline at the moment. In the past, with the Donne books, I've beaten my deadlines by weeks. This book has been frustrating, as I missed two self-deadlines (a big one being "having the book done by the end of January"--NOT EVEN CLOSE). But that's okay. The key is still getting the book right. Making the book GOOD. Sitting there and working on it until it's the best damn thing I've ever written. My current deadline on these revisions is the end of March. We'll see if I hit it.
-Believing in the people who help you. My dad,
Sarah, and
Allan Guthrie have all helped immensely with this book. Now, granted some of them said things I didn't want to hear, but I've believed their gut reactions and tried to integrate what they've said about the book into the revisions. Al has been the master of patience as he's followed me through just about every moment of frustration I've had with this book.
-Outlining. I've outlined this book twice. Once when I first started to give me some sort of guideline. I deviated it from it majorly, and at the same time tried to get to the same end point. The second one was a revisional outline. Going through what I already had and figuring out where to make the changes. It's supposed to make the re-write even easier, and so far it's worked. The outline, took a month and a half to write, though... so that part's not a piece of cake. It took a lot of back and forth. In fact, there are still two major holes that I need to figure out. But I will. Thanks, again, to Al with that idea.
-Learning (knowing??) I'm not always right. Writing is a process, a learning process and I'm always going to make mistakes. I'm going to be wrong. The errors have to be thought about, deeply. You have to be willing to work on the mistakes, figure out why they're mistakes, and figure out how to fix them.
-Believing in the book. I've wanted to write this book since at least February of 2007. When I told
some people about the idea, they pushed me to write it. The original first chapter's been on two different computers. Since then the book's gone through many permutations. It's not always been the book I planned to write, but it's still the book I want to write. There were times where I thought about moving on, but the characters have been gnawing at me. I knew there was a good idea there. Both
When One Man Dies and
The Evil That Men Do weren't the books I originally expected them to be, but they changed into something I was excited about. When change from the original plan comes, you have to be willing to go with it. A book can surprise you and become something better. Become something you're even more excited about.
-I've said it before and I'll say it again. As much as I hate doing it at times, I'm going to preach, preach, preach revision. Revision is where the book goes from being formulaic to something new and exciting. That's where the book grows up. It may be born in draft form, but revision is its puberty and editing is its adulthood.
-Each book is different. I need to keep drilling that into my head, because my subconscious does not want to believe it. I don't know why, but it doesn't, even though I'm setting out to make each book different. Something to stand on it's own. I don't want to write the same thing over and over again... And if my first two books, and now this one, are any indication... I won't be doing that. I'm challenging myself over and over again to become a better writer. I hope it's happening.
These are things I've come to learn while writing this book. I don't want to mention the title yet... at least not on here, because I'm kind of afraid it might change, no matter how much I like it. But I'm excited for it.
You may find things are different, when you write. And if you do, I'd love to hear about them in the comments section... I'm always looking to learn, so help teach me.
Labels: Process, Revisions, Writing, Writing Book 3
