First draft chaos
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| Photo by Steve Johnson on Unsplash |
So I'm 8,072 words in on You can call me Mother, my first ever novel, and I feel this picture sums it up well.
Or maybe I'm being a bit harsh on myself. Its not total chaos, but as I write the words down, I can't help thinking 'will this work' and 'boy, this is going to take a ton of research if I go down this route', but also I need to remind myself that I just need to get it all out. This is the first draft, and the finished product may end up very different.
But I need to have begun somewhere.
With nothing, I can't go anywhere, but with something, even if I'm like 'what?' I can go on a journey . And that's what I've been on over the past two weeks - well to be more precise, I've been in Slovakia, and an amazing time it has being, but more on that another day, because I write this on the 8th September - a day that will be forever etched our memories as the day that our beloved Queen and sister in Christ, Elizabeth, has died. Reunited with her beloved husband, and to meet at last her Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. I never got to meet her on earth, but she'll be one of many who I'll be looking forward to meeting when I join her in heaven, when it's my time to go home.
Let me know of the challenges you've had with first drafts, and I'd love to hear of any memories that you may have of meeting the Queen.
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| Martin is a writer, baker, photographer and storyteller. He's been published in the ACW Christmas anthology and Lent devotional. He's currently honing his craft at flash fiction and you can find him on Twitter here. |
No first draft of a novel for me, Martin, but I do find myself stuck about the blog post I had planned for this weekend. It's the 2nd in a new series about our move to Cornwall and I had (l thought) a good plan in my head. I don't want to lose momentum but the news about the Queen's death makes it feel almost irrelevant. Or is it appropriate, useful even, to still write about something more ordinary?
ReplyDeleteStrange how much her death is affecting us.
I understand how you must be feeling, Liz. It's still hard to believe that she's gone. At the same time, she was a sister in Christ, and I believe she'd be interested and keen to hear what you have to say. She took great delight in meeting all kinds of people. Thank you for sharing :)
DeleteMy first drafts are very much by the seat of my pants Martin, but get tidied up as I go, at various points. I can't wait to read You can Call me Mother! Keep going and trust your creative self to get where you need to be by the end of the book! I never met the queen but I did meet the new king when I was working abroad at a school he once visited. So very sad to lost our wonderful queen but what an amazing person she was and as you say, her service and faith are such an inspiration to all.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Deborah, that sounds very much like my writing, so that helps. I'm looking forward to the part where the characters take over the writing, though I think that's about 20,000 words in! I never met the Queen either, but Eva and I did get to see her on the balcony during her Diamond Jubilee in 2012. That's exciting that you got to meet the King. It's going to take some getting used to, knowing that he's no longer Prince Charles.
DeleteI have heard this term 'First drafts' so often and I often wonder!!? As I write, I edit. I can't bear to look at all the red and blue lines on the pages. After a chapter, I read over and self edit and this goes through all the way to the end of the book. So I submit 'First drafts' to beta readers, publishers, etc. I do not have the energy or zeal to go over through 250 pages of writing 'from scratch'!! I feel so emotional drained and depleted of desire to reread! I wish you all the best in your present endeavour, Martin. I'll be glad to join your book tour when the time comes. Happy writing. Blessings.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on the red line thing, so I have to change that, but as for the story, I'm going to wait and see how it looks at the end, I have a feeling I'll be surprised, and future drafts may bear little resemblance to this WIP, let's see. I'd be delighted to have you on the book tour, though I have no idea when that will be. Thank you for been so encouraging, blessings.
DeleteYou Can Call Me Mother! Oh yes, I can really see this. What a great title. Well, as I always say, you can't edit a blank page and 8000-odd works is a good old chunk. Martin, you keep at it. You've created a superb character in Mother and it will come. It will. Plenty of breaks, coffee, chocolate (or whatever you like) and take yourself out of your usual writing place from time to time. Set up in a coffee shop or looking out over a river and see what comes. I am a bit weird in this regard (not news, I know) in that I don't do a first draft. I just write and edit as I go along then submit it to the copy editor's tender mercies. But we're all different. This is going to be just splendid and I can't wait to read it.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Ruth, your faith in me, and Mother, keeps me going. It's 9024, so it's slowly creeping up, not sure how long it will take for me to get to 80,000 though, but I will in the end. I think I'd find it hard to write in a coffee shop, I'm an awful eavesdropper, so I'd find it hard to focus. I'll read it through when it's finished, edit as well as I can, and then think what to do next. Thanks again, and hoping your faith will be rewarded by receiving a signed copy one day!
DeleteSo thrilled to hear you’re 7,200 words through Martin!! Great news. I bet the queen would love to have read it. Do you think our written works will follow us into eternity???!
ReplyDelete8,072 words I meant. I can’t read.
DeleteThank you, Joanne, that's very kind. It's up to 9024 words now. Not sure what the Queen liked to read, but that's nice to think she'd have liked it. I don't know, but I certainly hope they'll be libraries in heaven. When I need a rest from time with Jesus, heroes of the faith, and fellow believers, it would be lovely to settle down with a good book, and a mug of tea!
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