Chapter 7 and the Temple of Perfection
June 26, 2001
7:28 a.m.
Chapter seven, it turned out, needed more work than it looked. I spent all morning on it, but in the end I think it's been well worth it. When I looked at it over lunch yesterday, it seemed to just kind of sit there doing its job in the flow of the story. Now, I'm thinking it's in pretty good shape. Maybe it even sings. Or at least hums. Anyway--on to chapter eight. I expect I'll work up through about chapter ten, then go back and give the whole first chunk another read through, just to make sure it's as good as I think it is ... which it probably won't be, but hey, that's the name of the game for me. Put something down on paper, read it, fix it, read it, fix it, repeat until satisfied. This is one reason I'll probably always use the "Fast First Draft" mode of writing. I'm never perfect the first time, you know? I remember when Lisa (who is a perfectionist's perfectionist at times) was taking a ceramics class. She had a deal set up with her instructor where the instructor was to tell her what parts of the process it was okay to obsess about. This worked for her because if she knew she had places she could work her perfectionism into, it made it easier to let herself free to make mistakes in the areas where it didn't matter. The whole thing made for some really neat works, and an entirely healthier Lisa. In the same vein writing a fast draft makes it obvious that it's okay to not be perfect. It's okay to glop the story down in handfuls, and to run off at the mouth in search of little ideas and character's idiosyncracies. But there comes a time in the process where perfection, or as close to it as I can come, is the goal ... and this is it. Again, for me, the Fast Draft (I think I'll stop calling these things Novel Dares, and just call them Fast Drafts since that's what they are) works for me because I find that I'm not a very good writer, but luckily, I'm a fairly competent rewriter. After I've got the draft finished and storyboarded, I understand exactly where I'm going with the thing. So when I reread my fast draft I know better when something's wrong, and I understand Story well enough to generally know how to fix it. Having the draft before me makes it easier to see what's wrong. David Brin, upon hearing me talk about the process I'm using, equated that fast draft to his "notes" phase--that time where he's working hard mostly just to put the story together. I'm fine with that. The analogy probably fits. Arg. Here I am, rambling on about first drafts. Anyway. I'm quite pleased with the work I did this morning. I'm quite pleased with the work I've done the past few days. Overall, I'm hoping I'm out of that "dark phase" of storytelling, where everything seems pointless and where the manuscript seems to be a wasteland of toxicity. If you're a writer, you know what I mean. If you're not, I probably lost you at "on to chapter eight."   Have a great day, my friends.  Sure, so now you're all Mr. Perfect, and everything. Har! Daily Persistence is © Ron Collins |
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"There seems to be very little cognitive process associated with risks," he writes, describing how he left a safe teaching job to try to make a go of it as a musician. "But it was also strangely joyous -- like when you're about to dive into some very cold water and the minute before you hit the water you think, 'There's no turning back now. I've done this.' And there's a great freedom in knowing that there aren't any safety nets." Amy Reiter - Salon Discussing comments made by Sting |
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