Off you go … What did Tyne call you? Booberry?
I finished draft 8 of Unstoppable at ten p.m. last night. I did not intend for the draft to be a full-blown rewrite, but I certainly didn’t end up just touching things up. Lots of rewriting. Near the climax of the novel Kelsey writes and lays out the next day’s edition of the town’s newspaper. I read that 4-page newspaper at least three times since September. How was it this past week? Unreadable. It was a mishmash of different drafts that made no sense. I wanted it to be Kelsey’s triumph as a writer and also her swansong to journalism. I tossed what was there and completely rewrote it. Even the hokey small town newspaper ads were wrong. For 8 drafts I call the daycare Kelsey’s mom runs Dew Drop Daycare. Was that the name I had in the ad? Of course not.
However, I’m making this out to be an arduous, odiferous task when it wasn’t. Here’s three things I learned along the way:
- Hemingway famously said that the first draft of anything is shit (Thanks Dean Richard Smith for the coffee mug that says that). I would add that early drafts, the first two or three, are rough slogging. You’re taking coal and applying pressure, and you end up with harder coal. No diamond is to be seen. Conversely, while I was editing draft 8, I could do little wrong and most of my changes brought the scene into The Sweet Spot. It’s much more fun to improve an already good manuscript. Struggling writers out there: hang in there! It gets better.
- Due to my reading lately I’ve become more interested in Top Down / Bottom Up organization, particularly the latter. Those of you who have taken my creative writing course know that I agree with William Bernhardt that all writers are plotters and the ones who call themselves “pantsers” plan it all out someway somehow, either before they write or as they rewrite (sorry Mr. King). Having said that, a great deal of Unstoppable came to me via Bottom Up thinking. Look back at my Alpinist post. I said that with each draft you create a different novel, one that could not have been imagined before you read the previous draft. That idea is Bottom Up. How many fun little moments did I insert while having what Kelsey calls a “brainfart” editing the current draft. One example has to do with the 3 dead horses Superintendent Rivers killed for the insurance money. It was over a year after I created that idea and when I imagined Kelsey uncovering the head of one of the dead horses and cutting the ropes on her wrists by rubbing them on its sharp mid-teeth (called “tushes” in equine parlance). Education and tradition has brainwashed me into thinking that Top Down is the only way to go. It’s not. I need to learn more about Bottom Up.
- Many years ago I heard an author speaking at The University of Iowa, perhaps T. Coraghessan Boyle, define a novel as an extended work with a problem in it. The metaphor? You can never get your novel right. I have certainly felt that way in the past, but I feel very good about Unstoppable. I may not sell even one copy, but I wrote a story a teen would read and I shared my view of life in that story. The writing of the book is a success. And it’s okay to feel so.
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Okay, Kelsey B. Webb. Comb that carrot-top of yours and brush your teeth. You’re going on a date. Not with M, and certainly not with Zeke Rivers (due in part to his untimely death). You’ll spend some time, end of December and January, with Melissa Balcerak in the Denver area. She is editor Helen Thornton-Guzzy’s mentee, and she is willing to give me what will be Unstoppable’s last beta read. After I receive and act on Melissa’s impressions, I’ll spruce you up and buy you a new Kohl’s dress (don’t worry, it won’t cost your folks any money). Editor Thornton-Guzzy will begin your line editing / copy editing Monday, February 16th. And then, Kell-Bell, your exploits will be set in stone. It will be time for you to move out of the house here, relocate to a publishing house, and begin your life out in the world. I’ll act as your support system. And if you need a grilled cheese sandwich with chips and Kool-Aid, I’m here for you.