Three Vigilante Books
On Saturday, I had an enlightenment. I thought, if other writers can write to a word count, so can I. I’ll write 1,000 words a day and get this new novel done.
Today is Friday. I have about 2,000 words on the first draft, with an opening sentence and a first scene that I’m still working on. I think I have the first sentence of the new novel. Maybe. It felt like a fine opening sentence on Sunday afternoon, but Monday not so much, and I’ve tweaked it a bit every day since. I think it’s getting better.
This morning I thought I had the first scene mostly ready, but then the protagonist, Dan Stark, told X Beidler that there is no statute of limitations on murder and the Vigilantes’ enemies could bring murder charges for the hangings. I spent the rest of my writing time this morning figuring out what to do about that statement.
As usual, I have more words in my “pieces” file than I do in the novel. As I go along, I put most of what I delete from the draft into that file in case I want to come back and use it later. I almost never do, but just in case…. Typically for me, all my books’ “pieces” files have more words than the books do. I can’t imagine writing the way I’ve been told to write. Dan’s statement about the statute of limitations is in there.
The typical advice is to write a complete first draft, then go back and revise it maybe 3 more times. That doesn’t work for me. I tried it in 2008 during NaNoWriMo. The “novel” I finished then was more than 50,000 words, but I wound up throwing the whole thing out and starting over. It set me back at least two months. It became Gold Under Ice. I revised some scenes three times; some about 22. The process is very uneven. But somehow the first three novels got done, so I have faith this one will, too.
You’re probably thinking that Dan’s statement seems fairly significant. I think so, too, but it doesn’t belong in this novel. As things stand, it’s slated now to be a separate story of its own.
In a couple of years, I’ll have a novel for you. By then, it’ll even have a title.
I loved this post, Carol. I think you know that I’m not a guy who has a daily word minimum–or a daily word maximum. I cited the 20,000-word mark because it’s one of those nice, round numbers. It’s also a juncture where, on this project at least, I knew I’d be finishing the novel. Believe me, I’m not the kind of writer who takes that for granted. I have enough short-circuited and flat-out-died manuscripts sitting around to know better.
I will say this, however: On every novel I’ve successfully completed (three of them now), I’ve reached a point somewhere along the way where things found a sustainable rhythm, where my vision for the project cleared and I began to see the road ahead much better. That inevitably leads to a higher gear and a more prodigious output.
That’s all fine, as far as it goes. But it’s just a first draft. There’s plenty of pain still to come.
Thank you, Craig! And congratulations on reaching that magic 20,000 words. I do realize you’re not a daily word count kind of guy. Your books go too deep; they don’t skim the surface of what’s happening. As you say, there’s a point at which we know this one’s a keeper, this book has legs, this one raises the hairs on the writer’s neck.
That’s the point that’s hard for me to reach, apparently. At least that was true with The Devil in the Bottle. I wrestled it until the day I let it out the door.
Even when you reach the point of no return, as you say, “There’s plenty of pain to come.” How right you are.
Absolutely, Ron. I couldn’t agree more.
Truman Capote is supposed to have religiously spent a full 8 hours a day working at his writing. A reporter asked him, how many words he had written that particular day. He replied, “One.” The reporter was shocked. A day of work yielded just one word? Capote said, “Ah, but it was the right word.”
That’s what writers should aim for. The right word.
Carol
If you’re gonna get-er-done, I guess you have to “bang it out,” like a former boss of mine once called writing copy. But those regular blog reports of x-number of words written usually leave me unimpressed. It puts the focus on volume, as if it’s all worth reading.
I’d have more respect for a comment like “2,500 words today; hope most of them aren’t just crap.”