Monday, May 21, 2012

Fast Drafting--AKA Getting the Frame Up

Happy Monday!!

I'm happy to report that I've written 40 pages so far in my new work in progress due to my Fast Draft Class!
Yes, I'm happy with that. But compared to most people in class, I'm not exactly sprinting toward the finish line. (Most people are writing 15 to 20 pages a day)
Eeep.
I'm keeping more of a nice even trot going, but I'm still getting a lot more done than I would have without it.

So what's the story behind Fast Drafting? Well, as Candace Havens puts it, you're telling your internal editor to stick it (I believe she phrases it a bit differently, but you get the idea) :-)

I have a very strong internal editor--whether she comes out because of fear or my analness, I'm not sure.
But she's one tough cookie.
Therefore I'm a bit of a slow writer. And believe it or not, I felt as if I was getting slower with each book. Although, I have to say my first drafts always came out pretty clear and clean, so I never need too much revision.
Obviously this won't be the case with this manuscript.

It's very hard not to stop and tinker with what I've written, and instead push forward. The instructor explains it this way: Think of it as building a house. In these two weeks, we'll get the frame up and see if we have a story there. Then when we go through revisions, we'll put the drywall up and then paint and then eventually decorate. :-)

My internal editor must have been an interior designer in a past life, because that's the part of writing I'm dying to get to but I have to wait.

I have to relax and just get the frame up.

Everybody has their own writing process, but I just wanted to try what seemed to be working for so many other authors I know.

Who knows what kind of first draft I'm going to end up with at the end of this week. Should be interesting to find out.
But the instructor will help us through the last two weeks of class called "Revision Hell" so that kind of gives me a hint. :-)

Have you ever tried or heard of Fast Drafting?
If you're a writer, would you classify yourself as slow or fast?

*****on a side note I got a lovely review for my book Sunny Days for Sam from It's Raining Books!! Woot! Check it out HERE!****

18 comments:

Old Kitty said...

Oh I have a super duper powerful internal editor - stops me in my tracks all the time. I progress very very very very slowly! :-( I think that's why I don't do the NaNo thing. I'd never start let alone finish! LOL!!

Enjoy your class!! Take care
x

Sarita Leone said...

Way to go! I love writing like that, without listening to the ever-nitpicky internal editor. Don't do it often, but it is a fun change of pace.

Enjoy the rest of the class!

Kerry Ann @Vinobaby's Voice said...

Twenty pages? That's amazing! I can imagine that on a perfect day when inspiration just flows from your fingers and with no distractions, but when does that ever happen? (Well, besides in our dreams.) I'm quite proud to get in a solid 2500 words a day. This editing business that I'm wading through now is a whole other story though...

Sounds like a very interesting class though. I'd love to hear more about it, so keep us up to date.

Linda G. said...

I've tried fast drafting, but it just doesn't work for me. My inner editor is too much of a tweaker.

Tweaking what I wrote the previous day is my warmup for the current day's writing. It gets me into the proper groove to continue.

Karen Baldwin said...

When I did NaNoWriMo, I had to shoot my internal editor just to keep up the pace. I don't enjoy writing like that. I'm a pantser so being organized in the very beginning creative part of writing is not for me. But I do understand the concept and see how it could be helpful.

Jessica R. Patch said...

I'm a fast drafter. I always read a chapter or two of what I wrote the day before to get me set up, and if I see major mistakes like typos, I fix them but I don't actually do any big editing until it's done.

And I'm a much slower editor!

I like this analogy! :) Good for you rockin through your new story!

Maria Zannini said...

I took Candy Haven's class once. Like you, it's hard for me to not edit as I go along.

Carol Kilgore said...

I've heard of this class but haven't taken it. I'm a turtle writer. But my WIP is going faster because I'm working from a timeline and at the end of each day I make more detailed notes about what I'll write about the next day. I love the building a house analogy. I'm an interior designer, too, when it comes to writing.

Great review!

Linda Kage said...

You're the first person I've heard use the Fast Drafting term. But it sounds like what I do in the last half of my manuscript. The first part, I always read over and over while writing.

Congrats on your review!

Rula Sinara said...

I haven't taken Candy's class but I have tried fast drafting...after reading about book in a month. Definitely more revisions involved! Like you, my internal editor is very pushy ;)

Anonymous said...

My internal editor is getting stronger, though sometimes i think i edit too much LOL!
Congrats on your progress.

Wendy Paine Miller said...

Fast first.

Slow 2, 3, 4...or at least a whole heck of a lot slower than the first.

~ Wendy

Southpaw said...

I haven't heard of it but I can tell it would be something hard to do - turning off that editor that is.

Chelle Sandell said...

You go girl!! I need to tie-up my internal editor because the broad just won't be quiet. LOL. Hopefully I can push her out of the way though so I can finish this ms.

Susan Flett Swiderski said...

My internal editor is a nit-picking pain in the butt. I'm telling ya, that broad is never satisfied. So, I'm slow. Very very slow. Matter of fact, you practically have to use time-lapse photography to see any movement at all.

Good luck with your class. The concept sounds intriguing. It'll be interesting to hear how you think this manuscript compares to the others you've written in the past.

Carolyn V said...

I have heard of first drafting. I'm trying to do that right now with my new wip. But I have to admit, it's hard for me not to stop and fix things.

Anonymous said...

Yea on what you've gotten written so far!

Terri Tiffany said...

I can't do it:( My inner editor makes me fix everything I write over and over. Like you, my first drafts aren't so bad--wish I could write that fast.