405,000 Keystrokes Later...

The author. Slanty.

The first draft is done.  Okay, it’s technically Draft 2.5.  I think that might need explaining.  (It doesn’t, but I’m going to do it anyway.)

I wrote very fast back in June.  I hit the ground running with a rough plot outline complete with 3 X 5 cards.  It turns out I prefer writing all my notes in a document, but it was cool to have the cards at the beginning of all this.  When I hit the mid-point of the story, I realized how quickly I was moving things ahead, and that’s when I decided to slow down. 

I hate the summer.  I’ve never been a fan.  It’s well documented that I like the weather cool and comfy.  I started writing notes in April and May, and I wrote some backstory stuff just before I began the whole thing on May 27 or so. So that meant the bulk of my writing occurred in the hottest summer on record, in my non-air-conditioned room with a box fan set to HIGH three feet from my face.  I don’t know a lot about the life of a professional writer, but I assume one typically doesn’t have damp armpits after knocking out 2,000 words.

I felt better about the process, and I reached the end of the story in August.  However, I still had to rewrite the first half.  As I moved through the draft, I realized my attempt to slow the story down still wasn’t good enough, so I ended up rewriting entire scenes.  I also cleaned up the plot, made better connections, fiddled with the dialogue.

I finished all of that yesterday. And, the novel is still a little short.

Today begins the next phase.  If I was a more seasoned writer, I would have had the tempo down a lot earlier, and could have patiently written my story.  But this is only my fifth experience, and it’s been forever since my fourth.  Also, I had to contend with an undeniable fact. I AM THE WORST TYPIST IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD. You should see the typos just in this blog entry before I went back and fixed them.  These things are usually between 600 and 1000 words.  My first draft is 72,000 words, and it still needs about 10,000 more. Imagine the amount of typos and screw-ups.

My writing time was 4:00. I posted a schedule at my desk and originally had slotted 6:00 to 8:00 for writing. I figured after dinner I have a little energy, so I’d start typing right after I finished.  The big flaw in that plan was my midday half-caf. I quit caffeine five years ago and have been drinking decaf coffee since then.  No problems.  But working and writing every day, trying to keep up with both, and knowing that you have to write EVERY day was tiring. I have to admit it. I’m 43, and Jim likes a little nap when he can get it. So, I decided to up my coffee intake a bit.  Four o’clock is when my measured dose of caffeine kicks in, so I wrote from then until I felt I should stop.  I aimed for 1,200 words a day, but it fluctuated between 700 and 2200. 

Again, why am I writing this?  I think I understand.  I love to document stuff.  I think I want to remember this process, so I won’t complain in a month or so when I bogged down with the next one.

On the topic of documentation, I also keep a writing journal.  I heard about it years ago, and I recommend it highly.  Even if your entry is just the word count for the day, you can track your progress and that can save your sanity when you hit a wall. 

After this pass, I give it to my wife to read.  Then, it has to “sit in a drawer” for a while.  You do this to give it a chance to breathe or something, and you have a chance to think about other things. The rule is six weeks, but I’m only going three or four.  Then, I see where the holes are and fill them.   In the meantime, I’m gonna read as much as I can and write a bunch of stupid horseshit for this blog you’re reading. (Or not reading. The fact that nobody reads this things does offer some creative freedom.  Why not go nuts?)

Once the story is polished (and titled, I’m still debating) it’s time to put it out there in the world. 

Then I start all over again, until my fingers fall off.

And, that’s how the tractor was made.