I wrote my first novel in 2002. Don't worry; you'll never see it. For several months I've been tempted to write another, even though I feel I haven't even come close to learning what I need to know to write a good short story. But that pull is there.
I got about 20,000 words into a new novel a few months ago and realized I wasn't ready for that particular story. There's too much about the characters I don't know yet. I'll come back to it, but I've recently started another that I feel more comfortable with. I'm really excited about it for a couple of reasons:
1) It's based on a story that I've been thinking a lot about, one I did at Clarion called "His Greatest Performance" about a weird old silent movie actor who lives across the street from a twelve-year-old boy. I think it's got possibilities and it's a story I'm excited about. At least for now the story is flowing very well; it sure doesn't feel like work.
2) I think I've finally got a process I can work with. Kelly Link uses this method; I think Michael Swanwick does too: Start the story, write what you want (or think you want). When you go back the next day, spend some time with what you've written - read it over and edit. Add some new stuff, but don't edit. Let it flow. The next day, start at the beginning. Keep editing. Get to the point where you stopped. Add new stuff. I think this allows you to edit and polish as you go and not wait until the end. Sure, I'm sure I'll go back and change stuff, but what I've written seems a lot more like a finished product than it did before.
Seems to be working for the beginning of the novel and a new short story I'm working on as well.
Almost finished with The Year's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy for Teens, most of which is very good. After Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, it's nice to read some short fiction.
Now Playing = "The Crippled Lion" – Michael Nesmith
2 comments:
So after the second day where you read and edit and add a little, do I understand that you completely start over the next day? Are you just rekeying the stuff you like, adding/changing what you want, or are you covering the same content with mostly new prose?
Hi John,
I guess it's sort of like sculpting. The second day I read what I wrote on Day One, molding and shaping from there, sometimes realizing, "Hey, I need to add something here," or "That's not as clear as it should be," or "Is this comment my character just said something that could be important later?" Most of the time it's just making things sharper and clearer, but last night I did read something in my main character that I thought required some explanation.
What I'm finding is that the editing teaches me more about the character and the story and where they want to go. Then I write a few more pages, which I'll look at the next day, and so forth. So far it's working. Don't know if that answers your question.
I've heard (second-hand) that Michael Swanwick does this, but at a painstakingly slow pace, sometimes only adding one new paragraph a day.
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