Friday, September 18, 2009

Time to make the donuts

So I'm in drafting mode: writing book three (still sans title).  This means I walk around with my head in the sky a lot doing strange things like baking cookies and downloading dance music.  I get crazy urges to move furniture around that JP has to talk me out of (trust me when I tell you there was a very long and detailed conversation about that yesterday when I asked him how upset he'd be if I went ahead and moved the couch in my office to prepare for the new couch we're probably getting in a few weeks).  It's been kind of dismal weather here, so I haven't been able to get out and wander around.

I've hit that point in the book I always hit where I panic and gnash my teeth.  I'm hopefully going to get through it soon.  I totally agree with whoever said that each book you write teaches you how to write THAT book, but I also find that the more I write, the more I find patterns and sometimes patterns can be comforting.  It's nice to know that for my other books I hit this point in the drafting and made it through.  It's nice to know that when all is said and done I have a wonderful agent and fantastic editor and smart beta readers to help me wrangle it into the story I want it to me.

Recently, my critique partner, Diana Peterfreund (of the killer unicorn Peterfreunds) wrote a blog post about her writing process that I thought was absolutely fantastic (go read it here).  She has to get the scene right the first time in order to move forward and I'm just the opposite -- I learn so much about the story during the drafting that I regularly have to go back and rewrite whole chunks of my book.  And now that I think about it, the parts that I tend to rewrite are the parts I'm drafting right now.

I think some people would think "this is the part I'll end up having to rewrite" and get stressed out.  For me it's a relief to know that what I do now doesn't set everything in stone.  I can still fix and change if I go down the wrong path.  You know I've used the analogy before that I think of writing as going down a long series of hallways closing off doors that represent all the possibilities in your book.

Now that I think of it more, I wonder if those rooms I'm closing have more than one entrance.  So maybe I close the door from THIS hallway, but who knows if I'll double back and find another way into that room later.

See, this is what I do when I'm at this stage of writing the book -- I read craft books, I think about my own style, and I write blogs trying to figure it all out :)  Speaking of craft books, anyone have any good ones to recommend?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi, Carrie!

Well, my personal style of writing is kind of similar to your friend's(Her name suddenly escapes me; sorry, bad memory :(...). When I reach a scene that is difficult, I just plow through, doing my very best to describe the vivid scene going on in my head. Once I've finished, I instantly reread and adjust whatever I feel needs adjusting. It sounds like a fast process, really, but it's anyhting but. You of all people know that! :)

Kiirsi said...

Nice post. What type of craft books are you looking for?

Anna Staniszewski said...

The Writer's Guide to Crafting Stories for Children by Nancy Lamb is just great (it applies to all kinds of writing, I think). And I've been going back through Orson Scott Card's Characters and Viewpoint and marveling at how brilliant it is.

Tyhitia Green said...

SIN AND SYNTAX by Constance Hale. SELF-EDITING FOR FICTION writers by Renni Browne and Dave King.

I have a few others that I'm sure you're familiar with. :-D

Tyhitia Green said...

Okay, and your title mde me think of that creepy old guy from the Dunkin' Donuts commercials. Thanks, Carrie. LOl. :-D