Month: June 2012

[This mini is from from one of the monsters from Studio McVey’s new Sedition Wars game.  The kickstarter for the game is funding on Saturday, and is a phenomenal deal for the gorgeous minis involved.  The McVey’s are amazing painters and industry veterans.]

As I’m working through a first draft these days, I’ve been thinking a lot about how little of the book actually makes it into one of my first drafts.  There’s too much tell when there should be shown.   There’s too much inner monologue when there should be dialogue.  My characters say what they mean when they should hedge.  My main character announces the intentions of others when they should be show in physical details.  The scenes aren’t getting anywhere near where they need to be.

In fact, it’s a lot like Drew’s process when he sculpts a mini.  He starts with an armature, which looks nothing like the finished product.

Here is an image of an armature by Jacques-Alexandre Gillois, who is one of the best mini sculptors in the world.

In that photo, the metal parts are the basic armature.  These are built out of wire and solder in the basic shape of the critter.  The wire armature is like my outline–a sparse foundation on which I’m going to build the rest of my story.

The green bits bulk up the armature, creating a thicker foundation on which the sculptor is going to place the underlying anatomy.  Believe it or not, this completed armature is about as much like the final sculpt as my first draft is like the final mini.  The basic shape is there.  It’s kind of neat looking.  You can believe it is going to turn into something.  But it’s not there yet.  Everything you can see is just a placeholder for the better details that will be brought out in revision.

And then I revise, adding details.  So does Gillois.   See the finished mini here.    Also an explanation of the sculpting process.  Notice how the mini looks like it could be finished several steps before it actually is.  Writing is deceptive that way, too.  A finished product is usually several steps past where it looks like it could be done.

I’ve been told by some that it’s smart not to have word counts when you’re drafting, because you should focus on quality, not quantity.  I’ve been told that it’s stupid to try to write a book quickly, when you could be focusing on turning out a fine product.  But here’s the thing: I can’t make my first drafts turn out pretty the first time any more than Drew can make his first go-round on a mini look like a finished product.  The result would be a wad of goo with details but no underlying structure.  For me, books are written in layers.  It doesn’t matter how long or short a time I spend on the first draft.  It’s still going to be nothing more than an armature.

But the armature is vital to the finished product.  If the armature is wrong, the final mini’s anatomy will be wrong, and there will be nothing to do but cut off the offending parts and start them over.

As Gillois works through the process, the mini gets more and more detailed.  He starts with the basic form, and then fleshes it out.  If he needs an armature, it’s okay for me to need one, too.

I’ve been spending a lot of time in my yard.  This year’s yard work goals are almost complete—I’ve been occupying some spaces with grass and others with irises so I won’t have to weed the bare ground there ever again.  Of course that means this year I do have to weed them.  Lots.   Also, my vegetable garden is succeeding this year.  The major discovery of last year’s experimenting was that I couldn’t handle all the garden space that I had, and I couldn’t handle it being on two sides of the house.  This year I planted a garden one side and seeded grass on the other.  Yesterday I mowed that grass for the first time.  It still needs to fill in a bit, but it’s holding out the weeds now.  Mostly.

I’m still plugging away at my draft, which has become increasingly first-drafty as I go.  This happens.  Every day I write something half-realized and tell myself that I can fix it.  My brain just can’t lay a novel down in its full flesh.  It has to come out in layers.  Just because the first fifty pages of this one came out more developed than normal doesn’t mean I’m now writing the middle parts wrong.  (This is odd for me.  Usually my first-draft middles are much better than my beginnings.)  I’m well past the halfway mark, and it’s going faster now.  On to the finishing, and then to two revision projects.

I read an article the other day that suggested it was healthy to always consider yourself to be in the middle of things.  That way, there’s no waiting for things to begin; there’s no slowing down because you are at an end.  There can be no picking up pace to race to the finish, and no figuring out where to start.  There is just the work ahead today, because you are ever in the middle.  I love this idea, especially as it pertains to my work and my home life.  I am ever in the middle of keeping my house together, ever in the middle of taking care of my child, ever in the middle of writing my words.  There is no beginning or end to these things–not anymore.  There’s no sense rushing through it to move on.  There’s no sense waiting for some new beginning.  There’s just the work ahead of me today.  And you know what?  I love it.  Every bit of it.  Even messy parts.

Talking about my work, though–one of the things that I do to alleviate the writing blues is to plot future, sneaky undertakings.  Plodding through the middle-book blues especially makes me feel subversive.  It’s not as if I’m subverting anyone’s goals but my own, of course.  But my relentless scheduling of myself makes me want to do something to shake up the schedule entirely.  Something creative and unexpected, even to myself.  But because I’m me, I have to plot these things.  I have to plan them.  This is ridiculous and contradictory, which, in truth, is my favorite way to be.  I’m plotting subversiveness for a few days in August.  These little spurts of different are what recharge me for the day-to-day work, even when they fail.

One of Drew’s steady clients has an interview with Drew up at his blog today.  I’m pretty sure John’s Praetorian force (featured in his banner, and the last photo on that page) is the largest force Drew’s painted.  If you’ve ever wondered what life is like living with a full-time commission painter, that interview sums it up really well.  Although, Drew forgot that I also do his accounting.  Just had to throw that out there.

Congratulations to Hilary Graham on the book birthday of her debut YA novel, Reunited.  You can celebrate by checking out the book trailer.  Welcome Hilary!

First and most importantly, tell us about you book.

1 Concert. 2,000 Miles. 3 Ex-Best Friends.

Alice, Summer, and Tiernan are ex-best friends. Back in middle school, the three girls were inseparable. They were also the number one fans of the rock band Level3. But when the band broke up, so did their friendship. Summer ran with the popular crowd, Tiernan was a rebellious wild-child, and Alice spent high school with her nose buried in books. Now, just as the girls are about to graduate, Level3 announces a one-time-only reunion show. Even though the concert’s 2000 miles away, Alice buys three tickets on impulse. And as it turns out, Summer and Tiernan have their own reasons for wanting to get out of town. But on the long drive cross-country, the girls hit more than a few bumps in the road. Will their friendship get an encore or is the show really over?

That sounds like so much fun.  I love roadtrip novels.  Now, on to the bounty hunting questions.  You’ve skipped bail, and a bounty hunter is looking for you.  What three things do you bring with you?

My husband, my son, and my computer so I can write (and obsessively check my email).

Bringing backup sounds like a great plan.  So where does the bounty hunter find you?
Oh, he can’t find my yacht in the Caribbean.

It’s also illegal for him to follow you out of the country, so good call.  Now you’re the bounty hunter.  When three things do you bring with you
while tracking your skip?
I’m going Macgyver style. All I need is a piece of chewing gum, a pen cap, and an empty whipped cream can.

I hope you ate the whipped cream first.  Now, you’ve found your skip, right where you thought they would be.
Describe your location and approach.
I know he’s holed up in cave somewhere in the Smokey Mountains. So under the cover of darkness, I climb the steep path and surprise him, grabbing by the shirt-collar and saying, “It’s over, pal. Time for you to take a hike.”

You’ve just caught a skip, and you’re surprised to find them
attractive.  What three things make them irresistible to you?
His rugged manliness, his sharp wit, and the sound of his voice saying my name.

After writing this bounty hunter fantasy, I am considering switching careers. 😉

Aww, you don’t have to switch, as long as you’ve got that computer with you!  

Want to know more about Hilary?  Find her online on facebook, twitter, or her blog.  You can also find Reunited on Goodreads.

I’ve got a guest post up today over at John Brown’s site about how I developed the idea for Chasing the Skip.  Read his commentary to find out how much he hates me.  🙂

Seriously, though, this blog post is part of a series John’s doing about how to use questions and answers to develop an idea with zing into a full story.  The whole series is worth a look.  His ideas are solid.  So much so, I wish I’d thought of them myself.