Latest incarnation of Alfie
I wasn’t going to do NaNoWriMo this year. I am desperately trying to get an entry together for the Chicken House/Times Children’s Fiction competition, so I’m all about the red pen, not the free-flowing first draft.
Except.
I gave the latest version of my Alfie Stanton manuscript to my husband, waiting for applause, or at least constructive feedback and got … Nothing.
The story is doomed. I started it two years ago, with a character called George. Resurrected it for Chicken House last year, but had the first chapter trashed by a children’s editor so shelved it and entered Dragon Wraiths instead. In fact, after being told by the editor that maybe I wasn’t cut out to be an author if I wouldn’t break my manuscript down to the smallest part, I nearly quit writing for good.
I don’t do ‘edit to death’. I find my work tends to get worse rather than better if I overthink it and let ‘analyst’ brain take the wheel. But anybody who’s anybody in the writing world will tell you to edit, edit, then edit some more. Even last year’s Chicken House winner gave that as her main piece of advice.
So this time I thought it was time to grow up and do it properly. I broke my manuscript down, looked at characters and themes, description, language, conflict. But mostly I got in a huge muddle and came to hate the story and everyone in it. The harder I tried, the flatter and duller my writing became.
It wasn’t a great surprise, then, when husband’s silence screamed, “this is shit!” although I thought it was just the first draft of anything that was meant to be that.
And do you know what, I think he’s probably right. By trying to be literary and funny and to incorporate all of Barry Cunningham’s advice, I broke my story.
What would once have killed me made me stronger. Seven days ago, I came up with a brand new character – Esmerelda Smudge. Six days ago I started writing, and two days ago I sent a 20,000-word lightly-edited brand new story to my (new) editor. 20k words in just over 4 days. That knocks the spots off NaNo.
Rough Cover
Is it good enough to enter in the Chicken House competition? I’m not sure. I still think Alfie, for all his flaws, is more what they’re looking for, which is probably why I can’t quite get him right. My style has always been more mainstream than award-winning. But Esmerelda has a great story. I gave the first 14k words to hubbie to read, and he polished them off in an hour. Not that he’s the best judge, but at least he’s honest.
Maybe, instead of trying to follow all the advice, to force myself into a mold and mode of working that doesn’t fit, I should continue on my own deluded way. After all I wrote Two Hundred Steps Home that way and it’s proved popular. Dickens wrote in serial form – he can’t have analysed his story arc to death on every book.
And I do put in the work. When I’m drafting, my brain buzzes and sleep is scarce. I carry the story arc, character profiles, the motivation, the continuity and conflict and comedy, all around in my head and pour it into each chapter. But it’s written fast, with no time for fear. And, for me, it works.
Most of all, it produces books that I would choose to read. That at least is one piece of writing advice that I can follow!
writermummy 
Couldn’t help but chuckle as I read your post. My family of writers, including my mother have all felt that way. Mom had an ” Alfie” idea that was nearly complete but sat for 15 years as she couldn’t get the ending down…then while she was trying to get that done she scratched out a book on a totally different topic, and the publishers went nuts for it. She tried to tell them it was garbage, and the other was the treasure, but they wouldn’t have it. That has been her best seller.
One thing too, is when we get in that mindset and have words to drop on paper finally, I have found that bouncing it off of a spouse or another non-writer, can be much more damaging then helpful.
Bottom line – Nobody can see what you see. Don’t ask them to. At least it has helped me… great post!
tj
Thank you so much for this! My hubbie is a (lazy) writer, but I agree that he isn’t always the best sounding block. Unfortunately I haven’t found anyone else! 😀
I hear you. Honestly, I am not sold on the idea that a writer who is in a ” groove” should bounce things off of anybody, lest the gems in there get brushed out by an untrained eye…I mean I have a friend who is a singer, but never once has he asked me to listen to and critique his music! I am untrained and don’t know what to look for. Trust yourself!
tj
Pingback: The Book I Wrote In a Month | writermummy