Lori's View
I find the rough draft to be insanely difficult. Gail Carson Levine, fairy tale teller extraordinaire, describes the rough draft process as sitting in a cave, scraping condensation off the walls into a cup. Then waiting for the condensation to build up again and scraping it off in a tedious, torturous cycle that can’t be made to go faster.
I identify with this. Probably because I don’t outline or anything before I start. Oh, sure, I write random scenes and maybe a character sketch or two. But I only like to write stories, not outline them or plan them. Much as I can’t stand this part of things, I thrive on the tension of not knowing what comes next.
I also have a lot of false starts. I can’t count how many story openings are stored on my computer. The cool thing is, once I know my characters well enough (after all that false starting business) they up and surprise me all the time, taking the story in directions I had no idea of before. This is when the story breathes for me. And why I enjoy revision so much more. Alas, I’m writing a rough draft right now and the walls of the cave are dry as a bone. A storm would be nice, anything to create some humidity in here.
I identify with this. Probably because I don’t outline or anything before I start. Oh, sure, I write random scenes and maybe a character sketch or two. But I only like to write stories, not outline them or plan them. Much as I can’t stand this part of things, I thrive on the tension of not knowing what comes next.
I also have a lot of false starts. I can’t count how many story openings are stored on my computer. The cool thing is, once I know my characters well enough (after all that false starting business) they up and surprise me all the time, taking the story in directions I had no idea of before. This is when the story breathes for me. And why I enjoy revision so much more. Alas, I’m writing a rough draft right now and the walls of the cave are dry as a bone. A storm would be nice, anything to create some humidity in here.
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