The Unending Search for the Final Draft

March 13, 2012 by

In one of my favorite books on the craft of writing, On Writing, Stephen King talks about the importance of leaving a rough draft sit for days, weeks, or even months before begin to go through it again.

This is very sound advice, and I heed it as if it were gospel.

I’ve noticed, however, that no matter how many passes I make on a manuscript, if I give myself a little break before coming back to it again, I will always find changes.

I’m not saying all the changes are for the better. It just seems that I’m never really completely satisfied. In fact, I’ve been known to change a particular sentence on draft two, then change it back to the original construction in draft three.

So, obviously, these kinds of changes aren’t the important or the big ones. I suspect they are the result of a never satisfied personality. Better said, writing a story or article isn’t the same as doing a math problem. In math, there is one correct answer, but writing is creative and there are several different ways to convey the same message.

The trick becomes knowing when the little tweaks you’re making are not improving the final project, only changing it. When you come to that realization, you’ve probably finished that ultimate goal: a final draft.

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Remembering the Joy of Reading

August 25, 2010 by

Not too long ago I shared some writing advice from Stephen King, and that tidbit was something he shared in his book, On Writing.  Writers must read.

Boy, this one is hard to follow when you’re a wife and a mother with a part-time pseudo-job. It’s a  struggle to spin your tales in whatever free moments arise. However, as I came away from RWA National conference last month, it really hit me hard how little I’ve read this past year.

Okay — let me rephrase that…how few published novels I’d read this year.

I have two critique partners who give me the most wonderful work to read. I try to get through my writing craft magazines that come each month. I also try to make the time to read books on the craft.  While all of that is good, and counts, there is a special joy that comes from reading for pleasure. I made a promise to myself to read the books I brought home from conference and also sat down and loaded all of the paranormal Rita finalists I hadn’t yet read onto my Sony e-reader.  A month passed, and I hate to admit I hadn’t read a single page.

But then something changed last week. My kids returned to school.

My eldest daughter is taking two classes at the university post secondary. (A high school senior taking the classes for both HS and college credit). She has to be 20 miles south in the morning, and 5 miles north in the afternoon. Even with a driving reprieve from my son–who also has an 8 am college class two of the 4 mornings she goes down–I’m still doing a lot of picking up here and driving there until we can get her a car of her own.

Now, I’m the type of person who is habitually early. It’s just my genetic makeup. When I have to be in a certain place at a given time, I calculate how far it is to my destination and how long it will take driving the speed limit to get there. I usually then add 5 minutes for unforeseen traffic and 10 minutes for unforeseen natural disaster.  (Yes, I always allow for a natural disaster that will only slow me down by ten minutes <g>)

End result: I often spend 15 minutes waiting.

That is why you will always find 2 items with me in the car 1) a notebook and a pen and 2) either a book or my e-reader.

Between yesterday and today I’ve been stealing 10 minutes here and there to begin reading J.R. Ward’s Covet and have to say the absolute joy of reading has rushed back to me. And dare I say I’ve learned a thing or two too.

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Some Good Advice From Stephen King

July 16, 2010 by

Sharing some more video inspirations this week in an attempt to keep the blog active while I finish my work in progress and get ready to for RWA National Conference.

Some wonderful advice to would be writers from Stephen King . If you’ve yet to pick up his book, On Writing, what are you waiting for?

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Breaking Down the Elements: Tension

April 7, 2010 by

As promised on Monday, I’d like to do a series on the different elements of crafting a story. This is from my personal experience, what I’ve learned from those kind enough to critique me and some of the better craft books I’ve read. Three vitally important ones, that I recommend every writer read are: Writing The Breakout Novel (By Donald Maass), Save the Cat (Blake Snyder), and  On Writing (Stephen King). If some of my ideas seem very familiar, they probably come from what I’ve learned from these sources.

One of things those of us who are unpublished most hear is “keep them turning the pages.” The best way to do that is keep the stakes and tension high. As the old adage says noting worth having comes easy and this should be especially true for your hero/heroine. They should have to fight and claw for every step them make toward their goal, make a couple wrong turns and end up in a back alley or two.

No matter the genre you’re writing, I think it’s best to think about thriller movies when focusing on your tension. Flipping the pages is the equivalent of sitting on the edge of your seat. Two movies immediately jumped to mind I thought about a real roller coaster ride. I’ll talk about the newer one first: Taken

First take a look at the trailer:

From the time his daughter is kidnapped, we can imagine the hero’s (played by Liam Neeson) pain, but really the viewer was already on that thrill ride even before that.

We learned he used to work for a government agency, is very good at security measures and tracking people, and left his career behind to be close to his daughter (Who lives with her mother and step-dad). Mom and Daughter pressure him into allowing the daughter to go overseas for the summer (Though the lie about the circumstance) He reluctantly agrees after employing security measures (like an international phone and a long list of rules) only to find out as the daughter rushes past security at the airport that she isn’t going on the trip he bargained for.

Tons of tension, before we really get to the inciting incident. The kidnapping that sets the chase in motion.

The other example of a great movie that kept tension high throughout is Con-Air (1997).

Another movie full of twists and turns. Nothing comes easy for Nicholas Cage’s character as his desire is to return home to his wife and daughter, but is conflicted by the need to stop the prisoners who have taken over the plane.  Early in his capture he is given an option to leave, but an internal moral compass has him give that up and risk his own life to save that of a fellow diabetic captor.

It’s not the last time the character is forced to choose what’s best for him and the greater good, which i will probably revisit when I tackle characterization. But it is just as important that there is a balance of push and pull as the jouney wages on.

For every two steps forward, a step back will help increase the tension.

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Words on the Page; Aged to Perfection

September 30, 2009 by

Last week we went to my daughter’s open house at school.  In the little fifteen minute spiel given by her health teacher he said that one of the units they’d be talking about next marking period was “Aging Gracefully.” He went on to explain how important he thought it was that the kids had this information: taking care of oneself with diet and exercise while young, would only benefit oneself in later years.  Of course, I made an instant connection to my writing, one that has really hit home this week.

aging-gracefully

It isn’t a new concept. In fact, it’s probably one of the oldest rules of writing. The words need time to sit, to cool on the page, before being self-edited. As a writer, we need to step away from a new work, give it and ourselves time and distance before revisiting and polishing it.  If I remember correctly, Steven King says in On Writing that he needs a year to feel completely distanced from the work. I tend to find four to six weeks is enough time for me. (But then again, I’m not Steven King and maybe his approach is better!)

Over the last couple weeks I’ve been going over a recently written manuscript, giving it that final edit. It’s one I’ve been through twice before, but this is the important one. The one that comes after the words have aged. The one where the words I’m reading feel fresh and new… and yes, sometimes completely wrong for the job I meant them to do.  A snip here, a cut there, maybe some extra exposition sprinkled about and hopefully in the end this perfectly aged manuscript will be ready to see the light of day.

Of course, the words will never be completely fresh to my own eyes, and I will never have a  completely neutral  perception of their quality. Sometimes we can write truly obnoxious or extremely wordy phrases that we think are genius at the time.  We may know better later, but by then we’ve become fond of our little children and can’t seem to find the heart to kick them to the curb.  This would be why critique partners are a good idea, but that’s a completely differnt topic all together.

So, like fine wine and really good chili, time is the magic ingredient that will assure a better end product.  The words we write aren’t nearly as good when they are young, but instead must be aged to perfection.

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