Chapter 3

Just checking in to say that I finished Chapter 3 this weekend.

So far, my progress has been one chapter a week.

And I don't write this chapter over the course of an artistically excruciating 7 days.  I'm off Friday through Sunday.

On Friday I decompress.

On Saturday I meet up with my friend Denise on Skype and we catch up for forty-five minutes or so, then we write together, checking in every half hour or so to see how things are going.

After a couple of hours -- during which I write about half my chapter -- it's usually her bedtime, so we sign-off for the week and I finish my chapter solo.

Then, because I'm young(-ish) and single, I down some celebratory beers and fritter away the rest of my Saturday.

And then Sunday is just for me, too.

I have considered writing on Sunday, also, usually during the week when I'm feeling ambitious or impatient.  But it hasn't been working out that way.

See, I'm milking a fine line between Discipline and Inspiration.  I have tried writing only when I am inspired to...  Nothing gets done.  And I have tried writing with the type of discipline that Stephen King advocates...  Excuses arise.  (I don't mean that I find excuses not to write, I mean that excuses FIND ME!  Aggressively!  Steven Pressfield calls this "Resistance" and insists we work through it, but that hasn't worked for me, either.)

But since I have a fairly detailed outline to work from, dipping in once a week to write a chapter seems to be working just fine.

I start by reviewing the outline, then I search for "a way into" the chapter.  I try to figure out the first lines of the chapter.

If the chapter is largely exposition, I see how I can play with the Polti Dramatic Situation I have assigned to the chapter.  I also see if there are any fun character moments I might be able to fit in.  Or any compelling details that might give the scene more life (setting or weather or sounds or something).

But mostly, once I find the first couple of sentences, and more sentences seem to be flowing, I dive in and write.

Since my chapter are around 2,000 words, I can usually follow the "flow" to the halfway mark.  Then I step away from the computer -- maybe 15 or 20 minutes, but no more than half an hour -- to "cleanse" my creative "pallet".  Then back to it.

My dream, of course, is to do this every single day, making my living this way.  But for now, working an intensive 40-plus-hour-a-week job, I'm satisfied with a chapter a week.  (It's better than I averaged last year.  Or the year before that.  Or the decade before that.)

So according to yWriter, a free program I am using to help organize my novel as I write it, Chapter 1 is 1,210 words, Chapter 2 is 2,187 words and Chapter 3 is 3,215 words, for a current total of 6,612.  My ambitious (probably overly ambitious, with this particular novel) wordcount goal is 90,000, so I have 83,388 to go.

With such a daunting task ahead of me, can you fault me for being proud of the little progress I have made?

Anyway, I just wanted to through in an update on my chapter progress.

Oh, yeah!

One of the reasons I wanted to write this post is because I wanted to point out something that I think is very important:

Writing my chapters, I do most of my worrying about quality BEFORE I start typing the pages.

Then, WHEN I'M WRITING the pages, I strike a balance between riding that flow of words that spills out once you get going, and worrying about quality.

AFTER I finish the chapter, I do a wordcount (My target is around 2,000 words per chapter -- more is great and less is a question of how much less) and a spell check, then I print my pages out and put them in a binder.

I will not allow myself to tinker with chapters until I am finished with the rough draft.

I think Stephen King suggests this in ON WRITING.  Opening up the file and tweaking one passage might lead to tweaking others, which could lead to a complete rewrite of the chapter and a loss of momentum.

He suggestions that you print the pages out and just don't open that file again until the book is done.  If you need to reread a previous chapter for continuity, read the pages in the binder.  And if, while reading, you spot a change you want to make, write a note in the margin of the appropriate page.

I already know I need to change a detail in Chapter 2, and I have made the appropriate note in the margin of the appropriate page.

Maybe I would be able to go in and do a quick rewrite without wasting time that should be spent on further chapters, but I'm trusting the professional's advice here.

So, to recap:

I worry about quality BEFORE I start writing.

Then WHEN I'M WRITING I ease-up on the quality control and give into the fun of creating.

Then AFTER the chapter is finished, I LEAVE IT the fuck ALONE!  I have more chapters to write!  I don't have time to worry about what is already written.

I'm going to be rewriting the whole thing anyway, why waste time before this draft is completed?

There is a famous saying by Lorne Michaels, and it's been quoted by a staggering variety of the cast member who have worked on Saturday Night Live:

"The show doesn't go on because it's ready; it goes on because it's 11:30."

When I got that -- when I really got it -- is when I embarked upon my current path as a writer.

This recent series of blog posts is not really intended to teach you the "proper and only way" to go from not being a novelist to being a novelist.  (I don't believe such a thing exists.)  If this book gets published, then the only thing these blog posts is intended to illustrate is that you CAN be a novelist NOW.

If it's your desire to be a novelist, then you SHOULD be a novelist NOW!