Having to rewrite something you wrote once before but lost is quite annoying. You would think it would be otherwise; if you could write it once, you should be able to drag the gist of it back from your memory and do it again. But it never feels the same. And it goes hand in hand with another major annoyance—when you KNOW you’ve written something, but you just can’t find the most recent file.
In my current work in progress, I encountered both phenomena in one scene. I am trying to work through the gala opening of a resort. The resort is the brainchild of the local millionaire’s daughter who is now my protagonist’s best friend after a rocky start in book one. I lost the first part of the scene. The first time, I took great pains to describe the setting. Description is one of my weaknesses. I can write a wonderful description, but I have a hard time mixing the description with dialogue and action. I don’t think my readers will enjoy my bringing a full stop to everything else to listen to two pages describing a particular building and the people there. But this is a first draft, so I let myself go and wrote out as full a description as I could. But now I can’t find the file where I added that bit anywhere. So, I took another stab at things, this time focusing on the (probably less than memorable) dialogue between the main characters at the gala. I didn’t recreate the description, though. (Have I mentioned that I find it annoying to recreate writing I’ve already done?)
I’m about 75% sure I’ve started this book in the wrong place, but like everything else in the first draft, the beginning is subject to change. Also, somewhere between the two versions, I’ve changed my mind about the murder. The best friend’s ex-husband was to be found dead in the kitchen the morning after, but I want more time to set up conflict and character. The only problem is I’m 41 pages into the book and usually the murder needs to happen quickly—although in this case, the life-changing incident that starts the whole train of events isn’t a murder, but a 16-year-old runaway heiress who is looking to stay with the best friend until she graduates high school. So maybe it is all right if it takes the murder (s) a little while longer to take place.
With a first draft, I give myself permission to write badly. There are times when the words don’t flow and I am struggling to string sentences together, and my writing appears to be to be awful. With a first draft, I can always fix it later. I often find when I come back to it the writing was not nearly as bad as I remember. And that’s encouraging too.
Speculation and uncertainty are part of writing a first draft. Very little is set in stone. I’m free to move events around, write words I know I will cut later and not worry about whether I use the word “that” too many times. New characters in this book may have their names change several times before I finally decide on the correct set. With a first draft, I am exploring new territory, and I like that.
What do you like or dislike about writing a first draft?
Oh, Nancy, losing a story file is the worst! I backup everything in several locations, including DropBox and Carbonite, and have fallen back on those saved files several times. Money well spent.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I have a love/hate relationship with first drafts. I love them because of the freedom to wing it and get the story down without fussing over the little stuff (Should there be a comma there? Does that sentence make sense to anyone besides me?) The part I hate is figuring out what research needs to be done and whether I need to do it NOW or later. Later is good except when that later research results in the entire scene falling apart and taking the next several scenes with it.
I love the freedom and excitement of first drafts...but loathe the anxiety of taking a detour which ends at the top of a cliff with no escape.
ReplyDeleteI back up files continuously through OneDrive (essentially free with my Office subscription).
ReplyDeleteThe best thing about first drafts is typing THE END. That gives me permission to start making the story excellent.
I feel for you, Nancy. It’s happened to me and, well, rewriting what I’ve already written always feels like punishment. I now back up in three places. Even if two fail - I've got the lucky third.
ReplyDeleteAs for first drafts, I like them. They give me a chance to get to know my characters and story. Things always change, but that’s part of the fun, too.
Good luck with the recreation. You’ll do fine.
Nothing's a frustrating as knowing you wrote something and not being able to find it. I try to stash things in predictable folders with informative titles, but sometimes I do have to resort to checking the date on which things were saved to find what I thought was so well filed.
ReplyDeleteI love first drafts, with the feeling of adventure and magic as the story comes together.