PRIVATE.
Yes, people. Rough drafts are just that--rough. To get, or request, feedback on something that is not fully formed is just asking for trouble. The only time to allow someone to read a rough draft is when you have a specific reason for someone to read it. Then you need to make it clear what you expect from their read (notice I didn't say crit?? This isn't a crit. It is a reading.) of your work.
Beginning writers ache over every single word they place on the page. They tweak and rearrange and nitpick and rewrite each word, sentence and paragraph. They think their work is the next Great American Novel--I know I did--BUT just because you agonized over each and every word doesn't mean your novel is ready to be viewed. Numerous times craft elements are missing.
Writers who do this tend to be focused on one element and not the ENTIRE body of work. The bones are there, but what happened to the muscles, sinews, fat and flesh?
For other writers a first draft is a puked out thing. Sometimes it turns out well, but other times it is a mess that an author has to fix. TRUST ME, PEOPLE, NO ONE WANTS TO READ YOUR VOMIT!
I used to be in the first category, but now I'm in the second category. Depending on the situation, I will make one exception to my DO NOT LET ANYONE READ rule and that is when I specifically request DO NOT CRIT. I want a gut reaction whether or not I hit the mark with a specific problem and need to move on.
I requested this of two different people recently on two different stories. One, I already wrote a blog about here. But the other was a romantic suspense I asked a friend to read the first twenty-five pages. I specifically requested a DO NOT CRIT. Let me emphasis, DO NOT CRIT! just give your gut reaction to the pages.
For her the story didn't begin until page 19. Okay, this didn't surprise me considering my original draft started at about that point. Two, my friend didn't understand this character's trust for a group of truckers when this character is freaked out, exhausted and on the run. Good Point! I didn't have sufficient motivation for her to do this. Oh, I have a reason for her to do this, but a reason isn't good enough--the character must be motivated for the reader to believe this. This series of scenes neatly ties a subplot to the main plot of the story AT the end of the story, but WHY would this character trust them at the beginning of the story?
I made a bullet point note about motivation at the beginning of my manuscript and I'll deal with it later, depending on how the story unfolds. If I need to delete it, then I'll delete it.
Do I think it was easy for both of these writers NOT to critique my work? No, it wasn't easy for either of them. They both wanted to comment, but they respected my request and gave me the feedback I needed to move forward on both stories.
And I will say that I appreciate the restraint it took for them to respect my request. :-) Thanks, ladies!
Now, if I can find some time this week with family invading my home and wedding stuff to attend, I'll . . .
Write on!
Showing posts with label rough drafts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rough drafts. Show all posts
8/7/09
Five More Days!
until school starts. Wow, where has the summer gone? Hubster was bemoaning the fact that we didn't go anywhere for vacation. Of course, I had to point out that we had just come back from a long weekend in the Ozarks, but he said that wasn't the same thing. Guess his idea of a vacation is hopping on an airplane or sitting for more than four hours in a car.
It used to be my job that held us captive--I worked in hospital and it was first come first served on vacation time. Some of the people put their vacation time over a year in advance and always got it, especially around Christmas. I could understand if you are going out of the country or have a special get-together, but it was always the same people year after year who did this--and some of their kids were in college. It really pissed me off that I never got time off around Christmas, especially the year I had to work Christmas day and I had a three year old.--Yeah, I missed Christmas morning. The preferential treatment pissed me off. Glad I don't have to deal with that political crap anymore!
Sorry, that was a digressive rant. Anyhoo, the Hubster's job was holding us back this year. But we have a nice trip planned for Fall break (Disney World, of course!) and we only have to take the kiddo out of school for two days. YAY!
At first, summer break seemed like the days were stagnant, but now the finish line is in place!
And I seriously need to get my ducks in a row.
With the kiddo in school, one of two things will happen.
1) I will write like a maniac,
2) I will sit on my ass eating bonbons and watching judge (my secret addiction) shows, but I also need to,
3) exercise my BUTT off. Yeah, literally. . .
During BIAW last May, I discovered that I CAN write like a fiend. I had a middle grade novel that I wanted to enter into Delacorte's Yearling contest, deadline was 6-30-09. So I had to have my rough draft finished by the end of May. During the last two weeks of May, I wrote 30K words. Not too shabby. This little story is currently out in the query stage.
I have started book #2, and I'm calling it, The Fast and The Faerieous. I'm only 1000 words in, but I don't really have a clue where it's going. My personal goal is to have the rough draft (30-35K words) finished by the week before vacation in October. Why a week before? Because there is so much to do to get the house, yard, pets, and ourselves ready for vacation. I need a week to take care of the extracurricular stuff.
As if finishing one story isn't enough, I decided to add pressure to myself by writing a suspense, currently called Rosewood Manor. I'm 17.5K words into this story with a goal of hitting 70-75K for my rough draft. During my second draft, I usually tweak and tighten, but also fill out my subplots, deepen the characterizations, yadda, yadda, yadda, which ultimately adds 10-20K to my final count.
Finish two books by the first week of October, eight weeks, is it doable? Heck, yes. I'm not setting a daily writing goal but I know roughly how many words I'll need to write--A LOT. :-)
All I need to do is focus and the words will come. Research will happen while the rough draft ferments. And then I'll tackle the second draft.
Who knows? By the end of the year, I might have two more novels to pimp.
So, for those of you with kids or without them, what's your goal for the rest of the year??
Write on!
It used to be my job that held us captive--I worked in hospital and it was first come first served on vacation time. Some of the people put their vacation time over a year in advance and always got it, especially around Christmas. I could understand if you are going out of the country or have a special get-together, but it was always the same people year after year who did this--and some of their kids were in college. It really pissed me off that I never got time off around Christmas, especially the year I had to work Christmas day and I had a three year old.--Yeah, I missed Christmas morning. The preferential treatment pissed me off. Glad I don't have to deal with that political crap anymore!
Sorry, that was a digressive rant. Anyhoo, the Hubster's job was holding us back this year. But we have a nice trip planned for Fall break (Disney World, of course!) and we only have to take the kiddo out of school for two days. YAY!
At first, summer break seemed like the days were stagnant, but now the finish line is in place!
And I seriously need to get my ducks in a row.
With the kiddo in school, one of two things will happen.
1) I will write like a maniac,
2) I will sit on my ass eating bonbons and watching judge (my secret addiction) shows, but I also need to,
3) exercise my BUTT off. Yeah, literally. . .
During BIAW last May, I discovered that I CAN write like a fiend. I had a middle grade novel that I wanted to enter into Delacorte's Yearling contest, deadline was 6-30-09. So I had to have my rough draft finished by the end of May. During the last two weeks of May, I wrote 30K words. Not too shabby. This little story is currently out in the query stage.
I have started book #2, and I'm calling it, The Fast and The Faerieous. I'm only 1000 words in, but I don't really have a clue where it's going. My personal goal is to have the rough draft (30-35K words) finished by the week before vacation in October. Why a week before? Because there is so much to do to get the house, yard, pets, and ourselves ready for vacation. I need a week to take care of the extracurricular stuff.
As if finishing one story isn't enough, I decided to add pressure to myself by writing a suspense, currently called Rosewood Manor. I'm 17.5K words into this story with a goal of hitting 70-75K for my rough draft. During my second draft, I usually tweak and tighten, but also fill out my subplots, deepen the characterizations, yadda, yadda, yadda, which ultimately adds 10-20K to my final count.
Finish two books by the first week of October, eight weeks, is it doable? Heck, yes. I'm not setting a daily writing goal but I know roughly how many words I'll need to write--A LOT. :-)
All I need to do is focus and the words will come. Research will happen while the rough draft ferments. And then I'll tackle the second draft.
Who knows? By the end of the year, I might have two more novels to pimp.
So, for those of you with kids or without them, what's your goal for the rest of the year??
Write on!
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