When you draft a novel in three weeks, it shows

[larryhammer]

For those of you following at home, I've been revising Second Thoughts, as you might guess from the last entry. The draft was the skeleton of not so much a romantic comedy, but a comedy of manners set in a high school -- a screwball one at that. Realizing that, I could figure out how to give characters motivations and agendas and dimensionality (this for the first revision pass, including subplot replacement), develop the romantic pair's chemistry, add more emotions/descriptions/senses/setting, and generally field-strip and rewrite. Oh, and focus the sex on emotion instead of anatomy. Goal is a finished draft by WFC and a submittable ms. by year's end. Tag line for my desk: A romantic comedy of manners about friendship, basketball, and creative ways of coming out in a small town.

Process notes: For both this and the half novel I wrote in August, I didn't find the story till halfway through. Once I have that, I can rewrite to support that arc and excise the false leads stray events and subplots; also, make the characters real, now that I know who they play are. Common factor between those two novels not present in the abandoned handful of starts: ideas I'd noodled with before, so they'd composted in the backbrain. I suspect for myth/fairy tale rewrites, the original story fulfills that. So after finishing the second novel, obviously I should come back and look at the false starts. Or that adult fantasy romance I wrote a half chapter of, back in the spring.

Maybe I'll learn to do this better, or at least in other ways, with experience. Or maybe just better balance the need to Not Outline with the need to compost the premise.

ObFluffyLink: Ways to fold discarded drafts.

---L.

Comments

[matociquala.livejournal.com]

*\o/* *\o/* *\o/* *\o/* *\o/*

*\o/* *\o/* *\o/* *\o/* *\o/*

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(seems appropriate for a book about high school and basketball)

[larryhammer]

Even more appropriate: Her Nibs is dating cheerleaders.

---L.

[msagara.livejournal.com]

1. The link for Second Thoughts goes to ... something cute. Was that on purpose?

2. I'm curious. I suffer greatly from -- as you called it -- the need to Not Outline. But I never really start a story/novel without knowing where it's going. I do discover who everyone is, and how things happen as I go along -- but I write toward an ending. I'm curious to know if, for this novel, the ending was clear to you when you started?

[larryhammer]

1. Nope. Link fixed. Smittens are way too cute.

2. I had no idea where it was going, aside from knowing eventually Her Nibs would end up in some way out of the closet and in some stable relationship. About a third of the way through, I thought I knew with whom. Then someone revolted, and putted that ending around a dog-leg. (Um, there's a lot of mini-golf in this one.) Which is when I found the story. Then around two-third of the way through, Her Nibs said, No, I want just this cheerleader thank you very much, so take the others away please. (There's also a lot of cheeleaders in this one.) Another dogleg. I told her to get rid of them herself, so she did.

---L.

Discarded Drafts

[movingfinger.livejournal.com]

I'm ashamed to be seen in the same computer system as you. The best I ever get with my drafts is this (http://www.origamiboulder.com).

Re: Discarded Drafts

[larryhammer]

I rarely do anything more elaborate than paper airplanes with drafts — printer paper isn't the best model material. I have been known to fold my way through the sort of brainstorming meetings that have candies with foil wrappers, though.

---L.