The hard part of writing a manuscript is writing.
Did I say that right?
Am I communicating my point? Does
it sound redundant or too simple? Is it accurate?
Maybe I should rewrite it.
A story in your head is different from a story told and put
down on paper – or on a screen. Building
a manuscript is a work of thought,
developing the embryonic idea into a truth with beauty and life. When building this, writers write; then read
what they write; and then rewrite. Eventually
even the best writers face a time of dryness when the words stop
coming.... They call it writer’s block,
but it should be called writer’s slow death.
When writing The Poisonwood Bible, Karen Kingsolver
admitted that the scope of the book daunted her, causing a writer’s block that
plagues the best of us. “For many years,”
she wrote later, “I had instead of a manuscript, a file cabinet; its imaginary
label was the ‘Damned Africa Book’ or later just D.A.B.”
Hemingway, when asked what he struggled with when he wrote and
rewrote the ending of Farewell to Arms 39 times before he was satisfied,
answered “Getting the words right.”
Getting the words right.
Even Hemingway, so
precise and clear - so free of pretence- struggled with getting the words
right. The best advice I ever got about
writing was “Just do it.” Start,
tell. Get it down, read it make spelling
changes, then move on. Keep going. Keep telling.
Do it , do it, do it.
Starting a novel at anytime is a challenge. NaNoWriMo is a dare to us – let’s band
together and begin at the beginning. As
I’ve set out on the process I realize the weight of responsibility to introduce
my audience to a wide spectrum of characters, give them a good peek at their
lives and then most of all, keep them reading.
What makes a reader interested?
It’s important for people who are trying to do a manuscript
in 30 days (ONE MONTH!!) to do it. According
to some of my favorite writers, getting it down is first, then refining comes
later. Using their words, here’s some
encouragement:
·
“Put down everything that comes into
your head and then you're a writer. But an author is one who can judge his own
stuff's worth, without pity, and destroy most of it.
~Colette
·
“Why shouldn't truth be stranger than
fiction? Fiction, after all, has to make sense.”
~
Mark Twain
·
“I have
been successful probably because I have always realized that I knew nothing
about writing and have merely tried to tell an interesting story
entertainingly.”
~ Edgar Rice Burroughs
·
“Any
man who keeps working is not a failure. He may not be a great writer, but if he
applies the old-fashioned virtues of hard, constant labor, he'll eventually
make some kind of career for himself as writer.”
~Ray Bradbury
Here are some tips that I use to make the process of writing a manuscript in 30 days a little more relaxed:
- · Keep a calendar – Write and record how much you’ve written. Diaries can’t lie and you will see when you are most productive
- · Make your writing station as comfortable as you can - I’m sitting on a barstool at the counter of my kitchen, close to coffee and tissues at my left hand. There is a small and functional desk lamp that illuminates my keypad.
- · Bring other people in on your goal – Once accountable you may be more productive! Also friends can encourage you, motivate you, pray for you....
- · Believe that you can do it- Goals are either motivators or accusers. In the face of accusations it is important to remember that the story must go on. You can do it!!
- · Read when you are “stuck” – something in the same genre you are writing is best. Reading frees up your troubled mind (the part that keeps tripping).
NaNoWriMo
has its own website: http://www.nanowrimo.org is very helpful
and encouraging. Check it out!!
Remember
that Rome wasn’t built in a day – a manuscript really isn’t finished after 30
days! Nevertheless,at the end of 30 days you
should have in your hand the broad brushstrokes of a manuscript – a rough draft
with characters and ideas that are alive and waiting for you to perfect their
environment.
Then you can get to the real work of writing: re-writing.
Gulp.
No comments:
Post a Comment