Drafting the First

At around 2 o'clock yesterday, while it poured incessantly outside, I arrived at the end a first draft of book three--the last of the Beat Street series. Friends that had to listen to me whining throughout this process deserve a great big thank you for putting up with me. 

The truth is, I hate first drafts.They require plotting, which means walking through dark tunnels to find your way into the story chapter to chapter (scream)! In the previous two books, I doubled back every few chapters to fill in the gaps and refine the writing.

I started book three eight months ago and forced myself to keep going and going until it was all done. Because the not-so-hidden rule of first drafts, as my dear friend Janet reminded me, was that they're hideous, nasty beasts. The good news is once you plot them out, you can go back and fix them.

That part's a lot more fun.

The one good thing about writing a first draft without thinking on it too much is your subconscious will eventually take over, just like Freud said it would, and when that happens you bump into all sorts of interesting situations and mostly people. And then you begin to see the connections and that's when the real work begins.

This is true whether you're writing a play, screenplay, novel or memoir--I'm convinced.

The other thing that happens after the first draft is you get to slow down and enjoy meeting the people you created. You may even be able to find layers in your previous books, though it's likely you can't do much about them at this point.

What I start with, on draft two, are the reasons I wanted to write this story in the first place. Book three is the hardest one for me, because the story is more personal than the other two, and sometimes a painful one.

I'm not going to say more than that because-- you know. I need to keep writing it. But I thought it was fitting that it poured all day yesterday when I moved through the last chapter. Except then something interesting happened, because I thought it would end painfully it didn't. In fact, it ended on a hopeful note.

I guess that's yet another thing to like about first drafts. They can surprise you -- in a good way -- when you're expecting to go one way and take a left (or right) turn. And maybe that's the point of writing (or one of the points)? 

There's only so many directions you can go. Our job is to find the one that makes the most sense to us.

Missing Trains

It used to be I never thought twice about train travel. I did take trains on a trip to Europe in college and loved them, but it seems like Americans really don't do trains the way they do in other countries. I wish we could rethink that and hope we do.

First, it saves a lot of jet fuel and would slow down the mess we're making. Second, if planes are supposed to be about saving us time, but are they really? You're supposed to arrive 2 hours or at least 1.5 hours before a flight. There are often delays taking off and landing. Then you wait for baggage. Right?

So a three hour flight ends up taking five to six hours (and then you have to get a ride to wherever you're going. Then, if your flight gets canceled, you may have to wait until the next day to get another.

Yes, trains still take longer, but at least, you know you'll get there without too much craziness. So a trip from Chicago to New York would be 21 hours. But if you got a sleeper car, and were traveling with friends or husband/wife/partner, it could be fun, right? 

I know most of us don't travel by train because we want to spend as much time as possible with friends and family. I really wish there were trains like the Bullet train in Japan here, but instead we keep pouring money into the airlines, which continue to stress us out (sometimes majorly).

And has there ever been a romantic movie scene on a plane? Yet, all the old movies have incredible scenes on trains. One of my favorites was The Lady Vanishes, which I saw at a vintage movie theater in Boston. The Darjeeling Limited was a more recent movie set on a train that made you want to ride one. Before Sunrise has a great train scene; and I've got a couple of train chapters in book 2 of Fool's Errand and am writing one in book three of the Beat Street series.

On the other hand, what movies really make you want to travel on a plane? 

I also have another link to trains through my husband, whose family played an instrumental role in U. S. railroads. His great grandfather Ralph Budd was the youngest railroad president in the country and the president of the Great Northern Railway. He spurred the building of the Cascade Tunnel in Washington, a project that cost $25 million and eliminated an earlier summit tunnel under the Cascade Range and a rugged alignment through an avalanche-prone area. Nearly 8 miles long,  the Great Northern's New Cascade Tunnel remains the longest railroad tunnel in the United States.

Ralph's son John M. Budd was actually a member of the crew that built the tunnel, and became the CEO of the Burlington Northern Railroad. I didn't know this when my husband and I first met, but I always thought it was cool and loved the connection his family has to trains.

One day, I hope it's easier and cheaper and speedier to travel on them again--especially for families who want to show their kids what it's like to experience the country's scenery from the windows of a moving train. And if it happens really soon, (like tomorrow)?

I wouldn't mind at all.

Train photo:  foundin_a_attic

Two Pages a Day

 

I just posted a text photo on my Facebook page that made me laugh. "Crap, that's due tomorrow?" it says, and is signed "Thomas Jefferson, July 3, 1776."

Being someone whose life is ruled by deadlines, this post resonated with me immediately. Deadlines for artistic and communications work can sometimes make it feel like I'm parked at my computer every day for way longer than I want to be.

Today, as I write this blog, I'm smack in the middle of the last third of book three in the Beat Street series (no title yet for the book). And what I'm having to do is STOP thinking about deadlines, and rushing through something that is very, very important to me.

Because I do want to get the first draft done sooner rather than later, so I can start editing and polishing and revising. I'd love to have something ready by the end of this year, and at the same time I know that hurrying your book is the kiss of death for it.

So yes, deadlines are important BUT when you have an open timetable creatively, you need to give yourself time to create the very best work you can. A friend told me once that Flannery O'Connor wrote for two hours a day and no more; and I believe you can see that in her meticulous writing.

At this point in my book, I am finally starting to see where I'm going and where the chapters are leading me. (Funny how you can get through the first two thirds without knowing). Another friend told me to go as slowly as I possibly could when writing my own work, to make every word count.

This weekend I had to clean out my pantry from top to bottom, which meant pulling out every piece of food, vacuuming every tiny sliver of a crack, washing every shelf and wall with vinegar and then spraying with peppermint oil. In some ways, I think that's what it takes to build a story as well--examining all your nooks and crannies and secret tunnels and trying to clear the walls of your head so you can find the light you're looking for.

Reminding me again, two or three pages a day can be more than enough. 

Happy Fourth, everyone--and happy writing.

Writer photo: kellywritershouse