Thursday, July 16, 2009

Back in the Saddle Again - First Drafts

Whew! Back in the writer's saddle again. Thanks Adrianne, for the 5 minute writing block suggestion. I sat down with intention of writing whatever came to mind on the page for 5 minutes. Next thing I know, it's and hour and half later, and I've completed an entire chapter. The thoughts that have been simmering have come to a boil and burst through the surface. What a relief to get my thoughts on paper again!

First drafts are so much fun to do. People have lots of names for it. I called it the vomit draft. Sorry. Not a pretty picture, but it's true. You get it all out, then you come back and clean it up. I throw everything extreme I can think of into the story when I'm mining ideas. Later, when I'm finished with the 1st draft, I weed out the extra and do my best to make the rest believable. I have an excellent critique partner. She reads everything - even the vomit drafts, bless her. That's a true friend. Later, when I'm preparing for submission, I present at my writer's group. They are a varied lot, highly opinionated, and extremely helpful. I can't imagine sending out a submission without my critique partner's discriminating eyes!

I'm heading back to my WIP progress now before I lose steam. Carpe diem!

7 comments:

Rena Jones said...

That's great, Nora! Loved the fact that you said you'd write for 5 minutes and then got totally wrapped up into it. Good luck and I hope it goes well!

Nora MacFarlane said...

Thanks Rena!

Anonymous said...

That is a good friend--to read the vomit draft. Funny that you call it that--I used to tell my students it was "puke on paper." Great minds, right?

Nora MacFarlane said...

Green Girl - Ha! I like that description!

Anne Spollen said...

Love the "vomit draft" phrase -- it really DOES capture the idea of getting all that stuff out so it can be assessed and cleaned up. Just perfect.

Christina Farley said...

Yeah for you! That is a good idea to start for 5 minutes because usually once you get going you can't stop. I hope it keeps going well.

Adrienne said...

Ooh, I'm glad that trick worked out for you!

How fun to be excited about a new project. Love the term 'vomit draft' - have fun spewing that stuff out! :D