A. S. Andrews

The Latest

Deadlines:  Still working on that rewrite, but now, I have a deadline.  Draft two is due at the end of September, at which point a certain person gets to see it, and my little hiatus from the world of dry-cleaned business wear may well be over!

Self-improvment or procrastination?  Still up for grabs.  I’m taking a summer writing class through UCLA, focused on the short story.  How is this going to help me finish my second draft of The Conrad Building?  I’m not sure, but it’s nice to be able to switch back and forth between two projects.  Somehow, it helps keep me in front of the computer for longer periods of time, which theoretically, should help with that second draft.

Inspiration:  I’ve decided to start a new category called inspiration.  And so, I give you this:

I don’t know why, but it spoke to me.  Seriously, don’t ask.  All I can say is, there’s a story there, somewhere.  

February

And then it was February . . .

I’m further into the rewriting process than I’ve ever been before.  I’ve laid out the bones of what I’ve written so far, and I’ve got the main storyline nailed down.  My subplot needs more development but it’s percolating along.  

I’ve been in search of a good rewriting “how to” guide, a nice silver bullet to the finish line.  Yeah, yeah, just sit down and do it.  I know.

What I REALLY need is a Harry Potter-stlye time turner to pull a few more hours out of the day. 

The Rewrite Begins

I’ve finally settled in to begin rewriting my Nano novel.  I’m amazed that it’s already the 19th of December.  It’s strange to think that at this point last month, I had words, words, words!  Glorious words!  And this month I have, let’s see, shopping, shopping, and more shopping! 

The words I pounded out didn’t turn out to be so bad.  The novel needs LOTS of work, lots of fleshing out, lots of slowing down and paying attention to the details.  BUT, I like it! 

Day 30, The Last Day

So, I reached my 50,000 words yesterday, and I have this to show for it:

YIPPEE!!

That, and 87 single-spaced pages of a first draft of “The Conrad Building”!  I am still reeling from the fact that I managed to write that much in ONE MONTH.  Holy cow, think what I could do if I applied myself on a regular basis.

Today, I sat down at my computer and felt sad.  The rush to get to 50,000 words was over.  The first draft is done.  I actually made it all the way to “The End”.  A few of the scenes and transitions are summarized, rather than written out, but all in all, it’s a complete first draft in all its glorious crapiness.

Now what?  I spent a lot of time today thinking about my novel and what it needs next.  Rewriting is a different beast entirely, and that will be my next writing adventure. 

I also spent a lot of time thinking about what a great experience NaNoWriMo was (and everything I’m going to do differently next year!).  There were days the writing flowed.  The best days were the first few days and Day 29, after I’d hit 45,000 words.  In between, there were a few great scenes that just flowed.  And then there was that whole bog between about 25,000 words and 45,000 words.   That stretch of time where I fell further and further into word debt and wondered if I’d ever catch up.  The times my inner editor appeared out of nowhere and said, “What do you think you’re doing here?  What is this muck?” 

Along the way, I discovered a strange little trick for banishing my inner editor.  All I had to do was remind myself of my MC’s one simple request in the beginning of this madness: “Just write it already and get me out of this mess.”  And so I did.

The best part of it?  Now that I’ve written a complete first draft once, and I know what it feels like and where to watch out for the quicksand, I know I can do it again!  Either that, or I’m still delirious from the last few days of catching up.

Day 29 and Done!

50,104 words!  I made it!