As a writer, I’m very protective of first drafts. Or have been. For some writers, first drafts are throw-aways, warm-ups, and nothing more. I’ve read of some writers that literally throw away their first drafts and start over because now the story is inside them or something. These people are monsters.
The first draft is usually the easiest part of writing. You just get something down on paper and then the real work begins, the editing and rewriting, the sweat, the deep thought. The meat of what you’re trying to say. Frankly, the entire writing process is evil and the only reason any one does it is because they have to. They literally have to. These people, too, are monsters.
This time around I’ve really thought about my current project. Quite a bit. I’ve mapped it out. Quite a bit. There are graphs, even, though looking at them now I don’t quite now what they mean. Here’s one. Please contact me if you know what I was going after when I drew it:
So given all this thinking about the story before I even started the first draft, I’ve felt comfortable enough to post snippets of it online. But here – and at this point, perhaps only a therapist would want to take a crack at my motivitations – I’ve posted them to ello. Yes. Almost guaranteeing that no one will see what I’m up to. (For those of you who have seen it on ello, I’m not calling you a nobody, but I am commenting on the website itself, and if you’re on it – as I am – then you’re just collateral damage). The thing is, this first draft, while nowhere near complete (because I am many things but I am not delusional….probably), is much further along than any other first draft I’ve ever written of anything. Yes, it is possible that NONE of the passages posted so far will make it into the final manuscript, and it is entirely probably that NONE of the passages will make it into the final manuscript as posted, but as I mosey along with this first draft, I’m getting more and more comfortable with where this thing is going. (You can also see a tally of how many pages I’m completing per sitting on my facebook author page – I know, really, someone needs to lock me away).
So, if for whatever reason you’re curious as to what I’m up to, this is for you. It’s just snippets, sure. But the snippets are there. In obscurity. Going up randomly. Because I’m a monster, too.
