clarion write-a-thon
I’ve discovered that it’s actually pretty easy to churn out about a thousand words a day. What’s harder is getting myself in front of the page. I need to be in a writing frame of mind. Some days, inspiration doesn’t hit me; she grabs me by the throat and drags me to the page. Some days she doesn’t come out to play at all, and I have to coax her out. I’ve learned one way of doing this from Dorothea Brande, in her book Becoming a Writer. I’ve also learned that picking a song that defines a particular scene from me and putting it on repeat helps. But once I’ve gotten myself in front of the page, getting the words out is easy.
The hardest part is putting them together in a coherent structure. No, I’m not just writing a thousand random words to get my word count up. (Although some days, that would be tempting.) Instead, I am writing random scenes. When The Farmer’s Wife (my current work in progress) grabbed me, the scenes came fast and furious, but completely at random. I didn’t have to think about overall structure, plot, or any of the things that usually stop me from writing. I just sat down and wrote the interesting stuff first — those scenes that demanded to be written. That makes the writing easy.
What it leaves me with though is a patchwork quilt that still needs to be sewn together. Some of the structure suggests itself as I go along. As I write Scene 30, I start to see that it should come directly after Scene 11 which I wrote a week ago. More often though, as I’m writing Scene 53, I realize that even though it obviously happens after Scene 36, I still need to write about a half dozen scenes in between them to get from Point A to Point B.
This process short circuits my Internal Editor though, and that’s what makes the writing easy. She usually stands behind me while I’m trying to write, shouting, “Drek! You call that a plot? Where do you think you’re going with that MacGuffin?” By writing random scenes, essentially flying blind, I can just nod my head and say, “Nope, no plot. Don’t know where I’m going. I’m just along for the ride.” She sputters incoherently for a bit then shuffles out of my writing space twitching slightly and mumbling to herself, leaving me to write in peace. She’s welcome to come back later, and actually does some of her best work while I’m working on putting the patchwork together — but while I’m writing, I need to find the quickest way to shut her up, and flying blind does the trick.
Obligatory Request for Donations: Some of you may have heard of the Clarion writing workshop, which has been running for 42 years and has turned out many bestselling and award-winning sf/f writers. Funding has been cut for the program this year, and so Clarion has responded by running a “Write-a-Thon” to ensure that the workshop can continue. I am one of the participating writers, and I’m looking for people who are willing to sponsor me.
What this entails is making a small PayPal donation via my profile page, here. Even a $5 donation helps Clarion tremendously and qualifies me for all kinds of prizes. Sponsors also have the option of joining the Write-a-Thon forums, tracking my progress, and cheering me on during this six-week event.
