I’ve been told I draft quickly. As far as I’m concerned, I fall somewhere in the middle. There is a very popular romance author who, when you take the number of books she’s published over the course of her career, and divide it into the length of her career, it shows she puts out an average of seven books a year.
Seven full-length novels.
That boggles my mind. But I know she’s not the only one. I also know authors who consistently finish a book from draft to polished in a month, and some who write a novel every year or two.
And either end of the spectrum is fantastic to me, because it means they got the words on paper. They vocalized their vision and shared their imagination.
I like to claim I can write a book from draft to finish in two-three months. I was talking to one of my CP’s yesterday (Janeal Falor, whose book, You Are Mine will be out in early May), about what it takes to churn out a book in that time frame.
And I had to stop and think about it. It’s not something that came naturally to me. But I did decide one day I wanted to do it. This is what works for me. I do these three these things on pretty much every book I write now. I’ve found (again, for me) if I don’t, I stumble along the way and stumbling means frustration, stalling, and possibly never finishing.
Allyson’s Fast 1st Draft Steps
- I never write the moment a shiny new idea pops into my head. But I like to have a lot bouncing around in there
- I outline. Nothing too confining. More like I figure out my beats (yes, I’m one of those fans of the beat sheet from Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat, even though I used to swear it was completely nonsense.) I sketch in any scenes I see in my head, and I full expect that by the time the book is done, only the beats will be mostly the same. My novel changes about 75% from outline to finished first draft.
- I have to have both of the above, because I always know what I’m working when I sit down to write. It may take me a little hemming and hawing to figure out what project to pick up next, but I always have one waiting, and I know which scene, chapter, or set of notes I’m working on when I sit down. I also tend to have the scene itself drafted in my head or on paper (unless that’s what I’m doing)
I’m not saying these three things eliminate me staring blankly at the monitor. I still do my very fair share of that. But it means as long as I force myself past the blank staring, I type what I know is roughly supposed to be there even if the language feels awkward, then I get to the end faster.
And one other thing – if you’ve ever heard when test taking “skip the hard questions and come back to them later” I do that too. If I can’t get a scene to happen, I sketch out what I have, even if it’s just /*Intense Sexiness Goes Here*/. The only problem with that, is those scenes are always the hardest to write, so I get 75% (okay, 50) down in a week or two, and then have to go back and fill in all the missing bits.
I know there’s a pretty even mix of pantsers and plotters out there, and that from each group some are more methodical first drafters, and some are rapid and speedy – so regardless of what you are, or how quickly you write, how do you get your first draft down so it doesn’t sit in your head and drive you nuts?
I yell at people until they all go to bed, then I sit in the dark with crunchy food and write in glorious spurts late at night. This is my preferred method, it is like getting drunk on words.
Only when that doesn’t happen–and it generally doesn’t–I outline, and force myself to write the scene that should be there, even if it feels like I’m scraping my fingernails over cardboard. My theory is that the cardboard thing means I’m being a grownup, but I’m not sure about that.
I do know, though, that wrestling an outline to the ground is the only way I finished the last novel, and the only reason I’m looking at New Novel with anything other than wild-eyed panic.
I make a short outline – at least five major points for the MC, and the main secondary characters, and then I write a few vignettes about each character, and then I jump in and run with it. A rough draft takes between 1-2 months for me. Then I have to revise and revision is tough work, but having a skeleton rough draft really helps. (I do that skip scene and come back later thing too sometimes)
I don’t outline much – usually just a few handwritten sentences that show me the plot from A – B- C . I usually start writing from the scene that first popped into my head – usually a major, climactic one – and then work from there.
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I’m way too analytical and obsessively outline everything – I don’t even choose a setting unless I’m clear on the themes I want running through the book and use those to choose the best setting and what I want to describe in it. Drafting usually takes me 4-6 months, but coming up with a good idea and outlining can take much longer. *sigh*
I wish it came naturally. Those few writers who do have it come naturally totally make me jealous.
For me, as soon as I start writing, whether it’s jotting ideas, writing a general outline, or actually working on a manuscript, the idea usually settles enough to stop driving me nutso. Takes a while to get it all out though.
And thanks for the mention. Still jealous of your much faster than me drafting skills. Someday I will have practiced enough to channel your awesomeness š