Well, so far, I spent pretty much this entire month rewriting the part of the original Chapter 16 that I had thought was decent. Now I'm getting to the part that I thought was crap. Odds are that that will turn out to be somewhat easier.
One of the things I've noticed is that I want to put a chapter break between these two sections. That will make Chapter 16 a short one, but there is no dishonor in writing a short chapter. The only dishonor is in writing a bad one.
I'd really like to put Drayton to bed by the end of October so that it doesn't make it to a fourth National Novel Writing Month, but I don't know that I'll make it. It does give me a loose goal to shoot for, though, and anything I can do to keep myself focused is worth it.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Just to Clarify
On my other blog, Next in the Series: The Blog, I mentioned that I had started work on a second novel, Such Is Life. This does not mean that I am putting Drayton aside even temporarily. Drayton is my first writing priority, and will be until this draft is done.
I'm just getting the ball rolling on Such Is Life so that I can really have some momentum going on it when I done with Drayton. I'm also going to be revising some short stories in my copious free time.
And let's not forget these fascinating blog posts. It's a full life.
I'm just getting the ball rolling on Such Is Life so that I can really have some momentum going on it when I done with Drayton. I'm also going to be revising some short stories in my copious free time.
And let's not forget these fascinating blog posts. It's a full life.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
The Process
The following are the revisions I talked about yesterday, from Revision 3 (which was when I actually started to write something) to 86:
It ain't easy. Just worth it.
It ain't easy. Just worth it.
Monday, September 10, 2007
You Don't Call, You Don't Write
Okay. I know I haven't added much to this blog since reviving it, but there is a simple reason for that: I haven't made much progress.
Except, of course, that I have. It's just that the writer often makes progress in the way that a stream makes progress on a rock or valley. You wear away at it bit-by-bit, always looking to improve it, always looking to strengthen it.
And that's what's been going on with the novel. I've been working on Chapter Sixteen and have, over the course of the last week or so, completed three paragraphs. Now, that accumulation involves a lot of backing up and reworking and rethinking and rewriting. Google documents has cataloged some 86 revisions so far, ranging from additions of text to complete reworkings of words, phrases, and sentences.
There have been more than a few deletions, as well.
And this is all on the part of Chapter 16 I thought was in good shape. It doesn't always come easily.
Except, of course, that I have. It's just that the writer often makes progress in the way that a stream makes progress on a rock or valley. You wear away at it bit-by-bit, always looking to improve it, always looking to strengthen it.
And that's what's been going on with the novel. I've been working on Chapter Sixteen and have, over the course of the last week or so, completed three paragraphs. Now, that accumulation involves a lot of backing up and reworking and rethinking and rewriting. Google documents has cataloged some 86 revisions so far, ranging from additions of text to complete reworkings of words, phrases, and sentences.
There have been more than a few deletions, as well.
And this is all on the part of Chapter 16 I thought was in good shape. It doesn't always come easily.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Like a Phoenix, Rising from the Ashes--Yech!
In a lame attempt to conform to the social strictures currently expected of those of us in the writing game, I am reviving this blog. I am doing so in lieu of registering the domain name and building a real website. The time is not quite right for that. Yet.
I am getting there, though.
Since last I posted on the Next in the Series blog about the novel, I have completed the rewrite of Chapter 14. It is slightly shorter than it had been and much more to the point. I've also introduced another character who will recur in subsequent Drayton adventures, an attorney named John Dingle. (He is a principal in the law firm of Dingle & Berry.)
It was hard work, but the chapter came out much improved.
I then marked up a copy of Chapter 15 and was delighted to find that it was actually already in decent shape and only required minor touches. Those have been completed.
I started reading Chapter 16, and was beginning to think that I would be basically off the hook for Chapters 17 through 20, when the quality sloped off sharply. As I recall, the point at which the quality went directly into the sewage system was right about at the time that I decided to enter that contest. I worked more quickly than I usually do, and it showed. Everything after about halfway through Chapter 16 can only be considered rough drafts. Very rough drafts.
And now, thanks to information that came out in Chapters 13 and 14, I have to write a whole new chapter anyway. It just never ends with these novels.
I am getting there, though.
Since last I posted on the Next in the Series blog about the novel, I have completed the rewrite of Chapter 14. It is slightly shorter than it had been and much more to the point. I've also introduced another character who will recur in subsequent Drayton adventures, an attorney named John Dingle. (He is a principal in the law firm of Dingle & Berry.)
It was hard work, but the chapter came out much improved.
I then marked up a copy of Chapter 15 and was delighted to find that it was actually already in decent shape and only required minor touches. Those have been completed.
I started reading Chapter 16, and was beginning to think that I would be basically off the hook for Chapters 17 through 20, when the quality sloped off sharply. As I recall, the point at which the quality went directly into the sewage system was right about at the time that I decided to enter that contest. I worked more quickly than I usually do, and it showed. Everything after about halfway through Chapter 16 can only be considered rough drafts. Very rough drafts.
And now, thanks to information that came out in Chapters 13 and 14, I have to write a whole new chapter anyway. It just never ends with these novels.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Change of Venue
From now on, all new posts having to do with the development of Michael Drayton, Detective Guy will appear on my main blog, Next in the Series: The Blog. There are already a couple of new posts, if you were so inclined.
Monday, May 07, 2007
Shading
As winter has crossfaded into spring, a mural has taken shape on a retaining wall that holds up one corner of the track outside the athletic center at the university I'm employed by. I walk by it in the morning and evening five days-a-week, and I've watched it take shape over the course of the last several months. At first, it looked horrible and amateurish, closer to graffiti than art. However, over time, each portion has been slowly filled in and out, and the aesthetic value of the piece has increased with every change.
This is the metaphor I've hit upon for my method of working. I start out with what I call "an outline in draft form." The first version is usually weak, but I get it out. I get out what happens and who is involved. I get down the lines of it, the equivalent of an artist's rough sketch, and then go back, from the top, and fill it in and out. And that's where the interesting stuff happens.
There were those who thought, when I decided to enter the contest at gather.com, that I was making a huge mistake, but I still disagree. I needed that deadline to get me to stop diddling around with individual words and phrases and start roughing out the last quarter of the book. And I did that. Now, I can go back over each chapter that needs revision and redo it the right way, having taken some time away to give me some perspective as a whole. It brought me back to the method of working that suits me best. And I have a completed draft to shop while I'm revising.
On another topic, I worked on it on Saturday as well. The new, improved chapter 11 is coming along nicely.
This is the metaphor I've hit upon for my method of working. I start out with what I call "an outline in draft form." The first version is usually weak, but I get it out. I get out what happens and who is involved. I get down the lines of it, the equivalent of an artist's rough sketch, and then go back, from the top, and fill it in and out. And that's where the interesting stuff happens.
There were those who thought, when I decided to enter the contest at gather.com, that I was making a huge mistake, but I still disagree. I needed that deadline to get me to stop diddling around with individual words and phrases and start roughing out the last quarter of the book. And I did that. Now, I can go back over each chapter that needs revision and redo it the right way, having taken some time away to give me some perspective as a whole. It brought me back to the method of working that suits me best. And I have a completed draft to shop while I'm revising.
On another topic, I worked on it on Saturday as well. The new, improved chapter 11 is coming along nicely.
Friday, May 04, 2007
How I Write
I've continued to push on, making almost no use of the previous version. I've less than 600 words so far, but I think they're good ones. They're certainly better than the ones that preceded them.
What I've been able to put together is this: The method of composition that works best for me is to blat out a draft, put it aside for awhile, and then revise from scratch. I got lucky with a couple of chapters in the first half of Drayton, and only had to do some minor polishing on the first drafts, but those proved to be the exceptions. As I look back over the 33 years I've been writing seriously, that's always been the way. At least it has for the stuff that worked the best.
I think this method allows me to deal with all the mundane stuff--what happens next and where, who's there, what do they look and sound like--so that I don't have to later. On the second draft, I can concentrate on how the words sound coming off the page and provide the depth and shading that most likely were missing from the original version.
This is a method that is not well-suited to the digital age, but that's no matter. And, at the end of the day, I have to do things in a manner that makes sense to me and not to any other.
At 47, after 33 years, I'm still learning about how I do this. Maybe that's a clue as to why I can't ever give writing up.
What I've been able to put together is this: The method of composition that works best for me is to blat out a draft, put it aside for awhile, and then revise from scratch. I got lucky with a couple of chapters in the first half of Drayton, and only had to do some minor polishing on the first drafts, but those proved to be the exceptions. As I look back over the 33 years I've been writing seriously, that's always been the way. At least it has for the stuff that worked the best.
I think this method allows me to deal with all the mundane stuff--what happens next and where, who's there, what do they look and sound like--so that I don't have to later. On the second draft, I can concentrate on how the words sound coming off the page and provide the depth and shading that most likely were missing from the original version.
This is a method that is not well-suited to the digital age, but that's no matter. And, at the end of the day, I have to do things in a manner that makes sense to me and not to any other.
At 47, after 33 years, I'm still learning about how I do this. Maybe that's a clue as to why I can't ever give writing up.
Thursday, May 03, 2007
He's Baaaack!
Yesterday's work on Chapter 11 went well. I didn't get a lot of wordage--only about three paragraphs from yesterday morning until after 10 last night--but the quality was there. The voice of Drayton is back. After a long, lonely period, he's speaking to me again.
He went on vacation while I was writing the first draft, but is apparetly back, tanned and rested. Let me give you idea of the difference.
In the draft of Chapter 11, the first paragraph was :
I awoke the next morning to the music of someone pounding his fist on the door to my apartment. I had fallen asleep the night before in my recliner as I watched TV. The channel that had been playing “Green Acres” when I left consciousness was now showing an infomercial for exercise equipment. Times change.
That's all right, but it now reads:
I awoke the next morning to the music of someone pounding on the door of my apartment. I was asleep in the recliner in the living room when the sound stunned me awake. The TV was on. The channel that had been showing Green Acres seemingly moments before was now showing a bright, bubbly, and cheerless infomercial for a no-money-down real estate scam. A tanned man in a polo shirt and a pale woman in a sundress shilled themselves smugly in blistering seaside sunlight, and I wondered when Professor Marvel was going to appear with the patent medicine.
That's Drayton.
He went on vacation while I was writing the first draft, but is apparetly back, tanned and rested. Let me give you idea of the difference.
In the draft of Chapter 11, the first paragraph was :
I awoke the next morning to the music of someone pounding his fist on the door to my apartment. I had fallen asleep the night before in my recliner as I watched TV. The channel that had been playing “Green Acres” when I left consciousness was now showing an infomercial for exercise equipment. Times change.
That's all right, but it now reads:
I awoke the next morning to the music of someone pounding on the door of my apartment. I was asleep in the recliner in the living room when the sound stunned me awake. The TV was on. The channel that had been showing Green Acres seemingly moments before was now showing a bright, bubbly, and cheerless infomercial for a no-money-down real estate scam. A tanned man in a polo shirt and a pale woman in a sundress shilled themselves smugly in blistering seaside sunlight, and I wondered when Professor Marvel was going to appear with the patent medicine.
That's Drayton.
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Revised Expectations
I've started just this morning revising the chapters of the book that didn't get a thorough going over before. I'm starting with Chapter 11 and pushing on to the end.
This is the part of the writing process in which word processing programs are supposed to be the greatest help, but I find them to be the greatest hindrance. So I am actually retyping the entire chapter, sentence-by-sentence, and reworking it as thoroughly as I can.
In other news, I'm up to my third query of an agent. How many am I willing to query before I stop sending it out? I'm not sure, but it's a lot. But lets all hope that number three turns out to be the smart one.
This is the part of the writing process in which word processing programs are supposed to be the greatest help, but I find them to be the greatest hindrance. So I am actually retyping the entire chapter, sentence-by-sentence, and reworking it as thoroughly as I can.
In other news, I'm up to my third query of an agent. How many am I willing to query before I stop sending it out? I'm not sure, but it's a lot. But lets all hope that number three turns out to be the smart one.
Saturday, April 07, 2007
The Latest
I submitted an email query to an agent on Thursday and got back a rejection within an hour-and-a-half. (He promised fast service, and that's what I got.) That really didn't bother me. It was something of a practice run anyway, although I would have gladly signed a contract had one been offered.
Yesterday, I mailed a query with sample pages to another agent. I should hear back within the month.
More updates, as warranted, will be posted here, your one-stop shop for Drayton news.
Yesterday, I mailed a query with sample pages to another agent. I should hear back within the month.
More updates, as warranted, will be posted here, your one-stop shop for Drayton news.
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
The Contest Is Over--For Me at Least
Michael Drayton, Detective Guy did not make the cut in the contest over at Gather.com. Twenty semi-finalists were chosen yesterday, leaving Drayton, I'm sure, at position 21 or maybe 27. So close and yet so far. I got the impression that all the semi-finalists are genre-friendly potboilers, something which Drayton certainly is not, and since the imprint that all this is directed toward, Touchstone/Fireside, specializes in genre-friendly potboilers, that is all well and good.
Be of good cheer, though. All is not lost. I have already sent a query to an agent. At the very least, this contest gave me a solid deadline to shoot for, and I made it with a reasonable draft left behind for my troubles. The current version isn't perfect--the last half needs a thorough rewrite--but the story is in place with enough good writing along the way to show that I can write somewhat. And whether this first agent bites or whether it takes 100 queries to find somebody, I'll keep on. It's really that good.
Be of good cheer, though. All is not lost. I have already sent a query to an agent. At the very least, this contest gave me a solid deadline to shoot for, and I made it with a reasonable draft left behind for my troubles. The current version isn't perfect--the last half needs a thorough rewrite--but the story is in place with enough good writing along the way to show that I can write somewhat. And whether this first agent bites or whether it takes 100 queries to find somebody, I'll keep on. It's really that good.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
The First Round
Yesterday was the last day for the first chapter of Michael Drayton, Detective Guy to be open for comment and rating at the First Chapters contest at Gather.com, so now the waiting game really begins. I have no idea what my rating is or what comments were made. I don't really care. I never expected to win the popularity contest--I'd have to be a radically different kind of person to do that.
And while some people may think that reading the comments could be helpful, I really, truly doubt that. The thing about reading the comments is that they are irrelevant to what I do. The good, the bad, the indifferent, it makes no difference. Those comments are a discussion among readers--just as any reviews would be--and are none of my business.
My job is to write the thing as best I know how, which is what I did. I'm happy with it. Chapter One of Drayton accomplishes exactly what I wanted it to in the manner in which I wanted to do it. The prose is first-rate, and the exposition is laid out with a minimum of pain. Seeds are planted that won't bear fruit for many chapters to come. The folks who are reading it are reading one chapter out of 18 and 2,000 words out of over 40,000. They're judging a symphony on the basis of the first phrase, which is not the basis to go on.
It has been my experience that if you ask people what is wrong with something they will tell you whether there's something wrong with it or not. Their comments are meaningless because they are driven by the feeling that they ought to say something, preferably something negative because that can demonstrate their supposed insight. It's the mentality of a focus group, which is exactly the reason why our TV shows are so dreadful and our movies so cookie-cutter and lame. Listening to the comments is a case of the tail wagging the dog.
As you can tell from the length of this post, this is a complicated subject. I've only so far skimmed the surface. And as far as this contest goes, the only criterion that anyone should be applying to any of the entries is this: If you checked this book out from the library and read through Chapter One, would you go on to Chapter Two? And if so, how eagerly would you turn the page?
However, that is all now neither here nor there. There are five slots out of 20 in the next round that are picked by the Gather.com staff. Maybe I'll make that cut, maybe I won't. Either way, life will go on and so will Michael Drayton, Detective Guy.
And while some people may think that reading the comments could be helpful, I really, truly doubt that. The thing about reading the comments is that they are irrelevant to what I do. The good, the bad, the indifferent, it makes no difference. Those comments are a discussion among readers--just as any reviews would be--and are none of my business.
My job is to write the thing as best I know how, which is what I did. I'm happy with it. Chapter One of Drayton accomplishes exactly what I wanted it to in the manner in which I wanted to do it. The prose is first-rate, and the exposition is laid out with a minimum of pain. Seeds are planted that won't bear fruit for many chapters to come. The folks who are reading it are reading one chapter out of 18 and 2,000 words out of over 40,000. They're judging a symphony on the basis of the first phrase, which is not the basis to go on.
It has been my experience that if you ask people what is wrong with something they will tell you whether there's something wrong with it or not. Their comments are meaningless because they are driven by the feeling that they ought to say something, preferably something negative because that can demonstrate their supposed insight. It's the mentality of a focus group, which is exactly the reason why our TV shows are so dreadful and our movies so cookie-cutter and lame. Listening to the comments is a case of the tail wagging the dog.
As you can tell from the length of this post, this is a complicated subject. I've only so far skimmed the surface. And as far as this contest goes, the only criterion that anyone should be applying to any of the entries is this: If you checked this book out from the library and read through Chapter One, would you go on to Chapter Two? And if so, how eagerly would you turn the page?
However, that is all now neither here nor there. There are five slots out of 20 in the next round that are picked by the Gather.com staff. Maybe I'll make that cut, maybe I won't. Either way, life will go on and so will Michael Drayton, Detective Guy.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
The Novel Competition Continued
The first chapter is up on the Gather.com website. Be the first on your block to read it.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
It's On
Yesterday, I wrote a brief biography of myself and a synopsis of the story of Michael Drayton, Detective Guy, and submitted the manuscript and everything else necessary to the First Chapters contest at Gather.com. Anyone who is interested is welcome to read the first chapters of manuscripts and rate them. You just have to sign up for a gather.com membership, which is free. Decisions concerning the first round will be announced on April 3rd.
My contribution will not be up for as many as three business days. I'll post a follow-up when it is. My advice to one and all is to vote your heart if you vote at all. I'm not going to check either my ratings or any comments, since the possibility of being terribly hurt far outweighs the chance that I won't.
The guidelines for voting read as follows:
I think my story scores well on all four counts, but you can never tell how these things will work out.
Anyway, if you're interested, go take a look. You don't have to be a member to just read, only vote, so why not go and see what you think. It might turn out to be worth your while.
My contribution will not be up for as many as three business days. I'll post a follow-up when it is. My advice to one and all is to vote your heart if you vote at all. I'm not going to check either my ratings or any comments, since the possibility of being terribly hurt far outweighs the chance that I won't.
The guidelines for voting read as follows:
All members who vote in the Competition as well as the Grand Prize judging panel must consider the following criteria equally when judging: 1) Quality of writing (including grammar and spelling); 2) Author’s ability to engage the reader; 3) Originality of the author's voice; 4) Potential of the finished book in the marketplace.
I think my story scores well on all four counts, but you can never tell how these things will work out.
Anyway, if you're interested, go take a look. You don't have to be a member to just read, only vote, so why not go and see what you think. It might turn out to be worth your while.
Friday, March 09, 2007
Let's Call It Adieu
I just finished the first complete draft of "Michael Drayton, Detective Guy." It stands at 42,000 words over 18 chapters, and I will submit it to the First Chapters contest tomorrow. I'll post the details about the contest and how people can vote for their favorites. (I believe it involves signing up on Gather.com, but that's free.)
In the meantime, I'm just stunned. After that passes, I'm going to go to work on a non-Drayton short story in the hopes that I can forestall the plunge into depression that usually follows completion of such a task. I'm going to try, as best I can, to not think about Drayton for at least a month. Maybe by then I'll be ready to attack the rewrites.
that's the thing about this writing business: It never stops.
In the meantime, I'm just stunned. After that passes, I'm going to go to work on a non-Drayton short story in the hopes that I can forestall the plunge into depression that usually follows completion of such a task. I'm going to try, as best I can, to not think about Drayton for at least a month. Maybe by then I'll be ready to attack the rewrites.
that's the thing about this writing business: It never stops.
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
The Homestretch
I did manage to finish the next-to-last chapter yesterday and carved out the beginning of the last chapter as well.
At the rate I've been going, I'll be done by the end of the week.
At the rate I've been going, I'll be done by the end of the week.
Monday, March 05, 2007
It's a Novel, But Not a Doo
Back in an earlier life, I worked for a relatively small company, under 100 employees, and we had staff meetings for our entire department of 60 or so people every Wednesday. One Wednesday, one of the supervisors, a black guy named Charles, who was one of the nicest people I've ever met, led the meeting his only flub came right at the end when, instead of bidding us adieu, he said, "Let's call it a doo." Now, I called this a flub, but I actually thought and still think that it is inspired. Even though it's been almost 25 years since I heard it, I will still from time-to-time call it a doo, but only when appropriate to the circumstances.
Well, a few minutes ago, I crossed the 40,000-word threshold on Drayton, which means that even the most persnickety editor will have to consider it a full novel and not a novella. However, that being said, I am not done. I should have the chapter I am working on now done by the end of the day, leaving only the final chapter to write. I'm nearly there. But it's not a doo.
Well, a few minutes ago, I crossed the 40,000-word threshold on Drayton, which means that even the most persnickety editor will have to consider it a full novel and not a novella. However, that being said, I am not done. I should have the chapter I am working on now done by the end of the day, leaving only the final chapter to write. I'm nearly there. But it's not a doo.
Friday, March 02, 2007
Closing in on Closing In
I'm happy to report that the Drayton novel is now up over 39,000 words. I'm about a chapter-and-a-half from the end. And while this chapter is coming out with surprising fluidity, the final one might be a jumble and merely a cascade of revelations. I have 13 days to finish it.
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