Joining the Flailing Club with Shelley Duvall
I will admit that I've not been paying very much attention to this blog (my last entry, I was shocked to find out, was over two months ago). I apologize, though it's for good reason. I've been writing my Ah Toy book quite regularly, and my excuse (to myself at least) is that I would rather spend my writing energy - which comes in finite daily amounts - on the book rather than the blog. Nobody has written to me to complain, which is nice, but that could be akin to saying that the baby bird is no longer clamoring for food because it has flown off in search of a more attentive parent!
A couple weeks ago, I joined the Flailing Club. There I was, pleased with my progress. I had my research, my characters, my plot outline, and I was 60,000+ words into my first draft. According to Google, the average length of a novel is 90,000 to 120,000 words, so I was proud to tell my rabid fans that I was already halfway done!
Then I decided to scroll down to the bottom of my outline just to review the plot for the rest of Ah Toy's story. I started scrolling. And scrolling. AND SCROLLING. And then some more. It didn't stop. I almost threw up in horror. I had written 60,000 words but I was only a quarter of the way through the outline!
Panic set in, of course. How could I have only gotten this far? What had I been writing? Had I tried to pack too much into the book? Had I been wasting too much time on lengthy descriptions and verbose exposition? What have I been doing with my life? Self-doubt crept in, or rather, it knocked down my door and barged in, like a fireman with an ax or, more appropriately, Jack from The Shining (which makes me Shelley Duvall).
It took a lot of soothing and coaxing from Allen and my Uncle Kurt to get me out of the Gutter of Self Doubt. After they lifted me up and dusted me off, I morosely decided I had to change the way I was writing. I knew I needed to streamline the plot and cut out all the excess crap. So over the course of a week, I attacked my outline, crossing out items that were only tangentially relevant and keeping only those events that advanced the plot. As a historian, I want to include every little bit of information about Ah Toy I could find. As a storyteller, however, I need a plot that keeps readers riveted at best, and at worst, willing to pick the book back up after placing it down.
Ah Toy, for example, was in court because a powerful man had tried to extort her. It's an interesting bit of historical information, but the powerful man is different from another man she was really feuding with for years. It doesn't advance the central plot of Ah Toy's story, and so, weeping bitter tears, I crossed it out. I didn't like to do it, but I knew that the story would be much more readable and interesting.
Now I feel like the story is getting back on track. I haven't deleted any of the 60,000+ words I'd already written because Anne Lamott tells me I should do that later during the revision process. I know I'm going to have to cut. A LOT. But for now, I feel like I've gotten through most of my kvetching. I'm up to 77,000 words now, words that have much more purpose and force behind them.
But I've been assured by the honorable members of the Flailing Club that they will keep the doors open and my seat warm anytime I'd like to return!
(I've never heard of a bird doing this, but . . .)
. . . while we're on the subject, I'd like to quote from a book that I've mentioned before, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott. It relates to a minor panic attack I had a few weeks ago.
My students assume that when well-respected writers sit down to write their books, they know pretty much what is going to happen because they've outlined most of the plot, and this is why their books turn out so beautifully and why their lives are so easy and joyful, their self-esteem so great, their childlike senses of trust and wonder so intact. Well. I do not know anyone fitting this description at all. Everyone I know flails around kvetching and growing despondent, on the way to finding a plot and structure that work. You are welcome to join the club.
A couple weeks ago, I joined the Flailing Club. There I was, pleased with my progress. I had my research, my characters, my plot outline, and I was 60,000+ words into my first draft. According to Google, the average length of a novel is 90,000 to 120,000 words, so I was proud to tell my rabid fans that I was already halfway done!
Then I decided to scroll down to the bottom of my outline just to review the plot for the rest of Ah Toy's story. I started scrolling. And scrolling. AND SCROLLING. And then some more. It didn't stop. I almost threw up in horror. I had written 60,000 words but I was only a quarter of the way through the outline!
Panic set in, of course. How could I have only gotten this far? What had I been writing? Had I tried to pack too much into the book? Had I been wasting too much time on lengthy descriptions and verbose exposition? What have I been doing with my life? Self-doubt crept in, or rather, it knocked down my door and barged in, like a fireman with an ax or, more appropriately, Jack from The Shining (which makes me Shelley Duvall).
It took a lot of soothing and coaxing from Allen and my Uncle Kurt to get me out of the Gutter of Self Doubt. After they lifted me up and dusted me off, I morosely decided I had to change the way I was writing. I knew I needed to streamline the plot and cut out all the excess crap. So over the course of a week, I attacked my outline, crossing out items that were only tangentially relevant and keeping only those events that advanced the plot. As a historian, I want to include every little bit of information about Ah Toy I could find. As a storyteller, however, I need a plot that keeps readers riveted at best, and at worst, willing to pick the book back up after placing it down.
Ah Toy, for example, was in court because a powerful man had tried to extort her. It's an interesting bit of historical information, but the powerful man is different from another man she was really feuding with for years. It doesn't advance the central plot of Ah Toy's story, and so, weeping bitter tears, I crossed it out. I didn't like to do it, but I knew that the story would be much more readable and interesting.
Now I feel like the story is getting back on track. I haven't deleted any of the 60,000+ words I'd already written because Anne Lamott tells me I should do that later during the revision process. I know I'm going to have to cut. A LOT. But for now, I feel like I've gotten through most of my kvetching. I'm up to 77,000 words now, words that have much more purpose and force behind them.
But I've been assured by the honorable members of the Flailing Club that they will keep the doors open and my seat warm anytime I'd like to return!
Don't be Shelley Duvall! Be Jack Nicholson, wielding your editorial ax. Own the power!
ReplyDeleteI remember high school English essays that needed to be 3 pages, double-spaced and that was a stretch for me. Here you are with 77,000 words. Well done.
ReplyDeleteTrue, but you didn't have two years to work on that English essay.
DeleteEven if I'd had two years I still would have waited until the night before it was due to write it.
Delete..."All work and no play makes Noel a dull boy."... I think that's great you've got so much stuff.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to continue with "The Shining" analogy, at least Wendy, flailing and making horrible faces, made it to the end eventually and alive - despite the seeming insurmountable forces against her (evil spirits, possessed husband) she proves more resourceful and tenacious than anyone, including herself, ever suspected.
It's good that you figured out some of the extraneous stuff to discard earlier than later, at the same time, you never know what might be useful later (<-- seems like the advice of a hoarder). You might not want to wield that editorial ax so early on. I mean look at where it got Jack Nicholson.
Hmm, nice argument. So are you saying that I should keep the both girls at the end of the hallway for now, and not to cut one of them out just yet?
DeleteI usually loathe hoarding, but maybe it would be a good practice to take the extra stuff and shove it in the attic for now and not get rid of it until Spring cleaning.
Oh wait, if we're continuing with "The Shining"...
I'll put my extra ideas on the Snowcat and send them off to safety until Spring comes.