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1/ Yesterday I finished the 1st draft of a novel that was begun 18 months ago - while holding down a full-time job. Since the writers on my Twitter feed regularly tweet about issues (being writer=having issues), I'll share some info re: how this miraculous feat was accomplished.
2/ Context: Not my first rodeo; been writing professionally for decades; had a first novel published by Random House over 10 years ago. What took me so long to get to this second novel? Life, including: wife, three dogs, three cats, and a 9-6 gig in the movie biz.
3/ First partial draft of 2nd novel (N2) was written in (gulp) 2009 (57 pp.).For the 10 years that followed, various other projects took precedence, but I kept picking at it; the basic story idea never went away. Unsurprising because: N2 protagonist has my real-life job. I know…
4/ I hadn’t intended to embody a “write what you know” cliché, but so it goes. Ongoing issue: How does one write about a job (requiring perspective & truth-telling) when one is still in it? At times I thought: retire first, write N2 later, deal with lawsuits then (I make joke).
5/ But the other obvious Big Issue: time. This industry gig (involving massive amounts of reading and writing) sucked all my energy & I never had more than a few weeks off a year. How find time & inclination to write N2, especially when novel takes place at workplace?!
6/ I made myself a proposal: Devote minimum of 20-30 minutes a day, 6 days a week, to N2, w/vital distinction: No specific output (i.e. # of words/pages) required, meaning if I simply sat for 25 minutes THINKING about N2 (maybe jot a few notes), fine. Reader, I married me.
7/ This based on acquired knowledge that if you keep a story in your consciousness on a daily basis, it will stay with you; save it for a rainy day and it goes away. Daily attention waters this plant, page count be damned; half an hour of focus is enough for it to live & thrive.
8/ Most importantly, that brief daily immersion engages your unconscious mind in the process. The muse understood that I wasn’t kidding (I kept showing up) & so ideas percolated when I wasn’t “writing.” Occasional little thunderbolts struck in the shower, car…
9/… & these in turn bolstered my enthusiasm to continue, & pages started to accrue. What I did every day was open the draft document on my computer, so it was there, always readily available. Wife says dinner ready in 20 minutes? Okay, time to write.
10/ Add old Hemingway tip: Ending writing session in mid-scene, mid-paragraph, mid-sentence = easy way to get started the next day. Meanwhile, headphones & good writing music (generally nonverbal) offset noises of Life, and Crucial Factor: lowered standards.
11/ Meaning shitty first draft, vomit draft, call it !@#$%&! (I often did), one thing mattered only: GET TO END OF DRAFT. I be preaching to the choir, surely, when I say perfection wasn’t just enemy of the good, but off the table altogether. I would make it better after.
12/ On 1 of 2 days off, 30 minutes became three hours: gold. Goof-off time on days off was essential for obvious reasons (wife, 6 animals, Life), but those longer stretches (pages!) were great. Point: Could not have gotten to the big stretches without all those little ones first.
13/ I had an outline, yes. Full of holes, sure, w/only biggest plot points in place - an ever-changing, always evolving document. 2/3 of the way through draft, realized I must reconceive antagonist or N2 wouldn’t work… so I had to rewrite more than half of what I’d written.
14/ So it goes. Here’s the fun part: pandemic hit. The great irony was, because my workplace closed – we all continued to work (thank goodness) from home – suddenly I could write about the job from a distance, literally. Excellent! So long as I could stay alive…
15/ By 13, 14 months along, momentum was well-established enough that during the final few months, I was even able to get all those Vote Forward letters out & could break the pact for half a day’s drunken joy on 11/7 (Biden win called in PA). Then back to the trenches…
16/ One more factor: Carrot at end of stick. I was by now obsessed with finishing by New Year’s: extra fire-fuel. Add holiday work slowdown… & holy ka-moly, reached p.277 (the end) on 12/29/20. Now I’ll put the draft away for a while & then, begin Making It Better process.
17/ Point is, it’s there: an entire draft. All this by way of saying, fuck yeah, perseverance furthers. You don’t need the imaginary big chunks of writing time. If you can truly commit to doing a little bit every day (or 6 out of 7), IT CAN BE DONE. Finis!
