by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
I have done some rough calculations in my mind and it’s looking like it’s going to be as late as Christmas before I wrap up this first draft. I say this pretty much because it’s proving far more difficult to force myself to write when I don’t really feel like it.
So, in a sense, I’ve developed some pretty bad habits where I just daydream a lot and write in bursts of creativity. I feel very sheepish about this because I’m kind of in an ideal situation to write and to actually buckle down and write even when I don’t feel like it is just don’t something I feel like doing.
I don’t want writing to be a chore. I love writing enough as it is to produce a lot of copy in one sitting, but this impulse to write happens at such random intervals that there is definitely a “drifting toward my goal” element to it all.
In my favor when it comes to speed is I’m in the third act and things are moving a lot faster for the reader, and, as such, should move a lot faster for me the writer. Some of the scenes are a bit problematic, however, so I have to psych myself up to write them. Which, of course, slows me down.
But I’m feeling pretty good, all things considered. For all its shortcomings, this first draft is, if nothing else, intriguing. I think, all things being equal, that if you didn’t know me and just picked it up that you would probably be interested enough in the plot and characters that you would finish it out of curiosity, if nothing else.
Having said that, I’m well aware that I have a HUGE amount of work to do between the first and second drafts. I really have to force myself to leave my comfort zone on a number of fronts.
Everything from having to read more on a consistent basis to writing maybe even when I don’t feel like it are things I have to work on. And that doesn’t even begin to address the issue of what I’m going to do about finding a literary type to help me with the other novels in this project.
It really hurts how I can’t even find one I can fucking pay to help me. What is it about my personality that so turns off literary types who I need to consult to finish these novels?
I guess if I actually sell the first novel, that might give me the credibility to persuade reluctant literary types to help me going forward. But thinking about THAT reminds me of how when prospective literary agents do due diligence on me THEY might dismiss me as a drunk crank.
Anyway, I remain very pleased with how things are going. I have the infrastructure of a great pop novel on my hands. It’s my responsibility to allow it to live up to its potential by working hard between first and second drafts to make it more professional and cogent.
