While I continue to chip away at progress for my assorted projects, I’ve been seeing more than a few posts from other writers on social media about their significantly faster results.
“I finished this draft in two weeks!”
“Just wrapped up my third script of the year!”
Jeez, I’m hoping to get three scripts done by the end of the year. If I’m lucky.
All of this reminded me that everybody writes at their own pace. Some people are more productive, some not as much. It all comes down to “just get it written”.
It also reminded me that I’ve written about this before, so thought this was a good opportunity to revisit a few of those posts, along with some that are kinda-sorta related.
The overhaul/revision of the sci-fi adventure outline continues, with some significant progress being made – especially over the past few days.
There’ve actually been a few rough spots just to get here.
One being letting go of how the previous drafts started out, story-wise, and not letting those details affect the new one.
Another has been being able to present important and relevant details and backstory without things being way too expository.
Still another has been figuring out how some, but definitely not all, of the story details could be reorganized, restructured, pretty much rebuilt from the ground up but still have it all work within the context of the story.
It’s been quite the challenge, but the gears have been constantly and consistently turning during the search for a solution.
Took a while to get there, but looks like it’s yielding some results.
But first – a little background info.
I make a point of holding onto previous drafts of outlines and scripts, because you never know if part of it will come in handy for a future draft.
Thus was the case here.
There were sections of the story that were going to stay, but some others simply weren’t a solid fit for the new draft – but there was something about them that still worked and that I wanted to keep.
Getting them to that point took several attempts, approaches and revisions. Took a while, but I got there.
Despite being a slow and somewhat drawn-out process, the new story is gradually coming together. I’m not one to impose deadlines on myself, but once I get all of this a little more organized, the outline should come together relatively quickly.
I like the idea of having a completed first draft, possibly even a revised second draft, by years’ end.
No pressure, but we’ll see how it goes. Probably helps that I’m really enjoying putting this one together.
The early months of this year, or at least the first one – for now, are all about taking some of the scripts I worked on last year and doing what I can to make them better.
Based on some notes, a quick polish was completed on the dramedy. I like how it turned out.
Next up was the pulpy sci-fi. It was a total blast to write, so a new draft felt in order, and inevitable. This seems to fall square in the category of “genre stuff I’m good at writing”. You can imagine what a shock/surprise it was to discover the last time I’d worked on this script was late summer of 2017, so it’s had plenty of time to simmer.
I don’t know how it is for other writers, but after I complete a draft or two, the story as it reads on the page seems a bit more…maybe “cemented” is the proper word? It’s tough for me to change things up. Tough, but not impossible. If I can come up with something that does the job better and in a more creative and original way, that’s fine by me.
I wanted to really change things up for the better with this story – especially regarding the protagonist. The most prevalent comment from my readers was “more depth”. The way the hero is written now just isn’t enough.
The gears began to turn, and my self-imposed resistance against changes, especially drastic ones, began to fade. As much as I like the current draft, why shouldn’t I challenge myself to make it better – no matter what that required?
I’ve written before that you can’t force creativity, but sometimes you can at least give it a little nudge in the right direction. Start the ball rolling, so to speak. I find the best way to do this is simply by asking myself questions, such as…
-The protagonist is LIKE THIS. What would be the total opposite of that? Or something unexpected?
-Here’s an important STORY POINT, but its current form just isn’t as effective as it could be, or have the impact it should. What’s another way to present that? What would be another way from that one?
-Several readers commented how they felt the protagonist’s backstory seemed incomplete, and could really use some reinforcing. Rather than clinging to what’s there now, what if a 180 approach was taken, and THIS happened instead?
The number of possibilities continued to grow – for the better. Previously unobtainable solutions were becoming easier to find, and would then be shaped and molded to fit within the contest of the story.
A stronger, more relatable and most importantly – original – way to achieve the desired results for the protagonist’s development was forming, and the added bonus of some great opportunities to show the hero’s emotional arc!
The fuse had been lit.
More and more questions were posed, pondered, and answered, including an alarming number that could be summed up with “that’s good, but not good enough”. Combined with my willingness to jettison parts of the current draft, a totally new approach began to take form.
As expected, this will require an openness and willingness to totally jettison and replace big chunks of the current draft. Rest in peace, my darlings. (There’s a good chance a few instances of reincarnation may take place somewhere down the line)
Suffice to say, I’m absolutely thrilled about all of this.
When something really clicks for a writer – and I mean REALLY clicks – it’s as if a tidal wave of adrenaline and endorphins are flooding through your system.
That being said, my process of plotting, rewriting and revising is well underway. It’s a big job, but I’m feeling quite confident about how this rewrite is developing.
Consider me definitely ready and eager to take it all on.
Maximum Z 