Keep typing, keep typing!

First drafts make me ill. Literally. I think the amount of mental anguish I develop over fretting over them is second only to the amount of worry I exert over what my teenage boys are doing (or not doing) on the weekends.

My first drafts take on a jumbled, erratic stream of consciousness form rather than a story any half-literate person could ever decipher. With my first novel, I remember closing my eyes and letting my fingers speed over the keyboard hoping to just get any words down on the screen. I never ever stopped to correct my grammar and I certainly never stopped to develop a character or plot her arc. All of that came later. Much later. And only then did writing become my pleasure.

Behold the revisions! That’s where the fun started for me. Once I started the revisions, and there were many, my writing started to make sense - take shape. Even as I write this blog entry, I have a new first draft. I always have to go back and edit every single thing I write. The Novel Girls blog is no exception.

While writing the first draft of Whistlin’ Dixie In A Nor’ester, I remember longing to talk to another writer and ask the question, “Am I doing this right? It seems wrong.” Now, after getting to know other writers I can finally answer my own question. “Yes, I am. There’s no right or wrong way. It’s just the way it works for me.” Others do it differently, but like Maureen, I’m just happy to get words on paper and outline a basic plot.

I’m just beginning my second novel, those old familiar sickly feelings are returning and my new manuscript has no shape or form. But this time around I’m ready and prepared to tackle that rocky road that leads to a real novel and I know I have what it takes to buff down the bumps and warts that are now all over my WIP. I know it won’t be easy but this time next year, it will be so worth it!