I’ve joined The Dickens Challenge.
Am I nuts? Posting first draft for all to see? Perhaps. What if, to be baldly direct, it sucks?
Well, if it sucks it sucks. I can’t worry about it up front, not and do this work the way it ought to be done.
Think of it this way: how in all honesty can I keep this blog fresh and useful if writing–the actual hands-on experience of WRITING–is only a receding memory?
I am, and always was, a fiction writer. If you cut me, I bleed stories…
I’m also a fiction writer who loves to think and write about Process. How We Do It. Hence my years of teaching it in universities, my current independent workshops, my coaching service…and this blog.
But to assume any authority as a practitioner of an art, to advise others with true authenticity, you have to keep DOING it. NaNoWriMo was great, but it only lasted a month, and not long after it ended, the novel I had so hopefully begun was (to quote an old joke) out standing in its pasture. Coming across The Dickens Challenge was like hearing the starting bell at Churchill Downs. This old race horse bolted out of the pasture, through gate and, as of this writing, is off and running full tilt.
Is it a wise move, or colossally stupid? Will I fall on my face, embarrass myself, blow all my credibility as a fiction writing “guru?” Sorry, can’t answer any of these questions, nor do I want to. I’m in motion now, simply in motion. Dogs may bark, but I’ve already stepped off the cliff.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m so glad you posted this and I’m very glad that you decided to do the DC. You’re the first to come out and say it, but it’s been very much on my mind that there are two kinds of writers who are participating in this challenge: those of you who’ve been published and have a professional reputation and those of us who haven’t and don’t. I initially thought that posting first draft work of my own was insane and stupid because anyone who’d read my blog was aware that I have aspirations of someday being a “real” writer. Until I revealed my work, they could believe that maybe I was scribbling away on something brilliant. Now they see my work with all of its flaws and mistakes and the reality is, it doesn’t much matter. I doubt anyone had any expectations about it, other than me. I think it’s brave and generous for you and for Tim to post early stage work because you do have a name out there. But I also think that it is priceless to those of us who are learning to be able to take a peek behind the wizard’s curtain and see the process and to be able to hear your thoughts about how this crazy way of cranking out a first draft is working for you, how the weekly posting and the serial nature of it all a help and a hindrance. I’ve learned a lot from Tim and I anticipate I’ll learn a lot from you too. Thanks for doing this and for revealing yourself in this way.
Published or not, we’re all facing the same challenges, the same fears, all doing the best we can with what we’ve got (my wife would add, “which ain’t much”)–and I’m certain we’ll all learn from one another other.
I think the significance of putting your first draft out there varies, depending on your personality needs. For some it represents real guts. Others are exhibitionists, or get a kick out of living dangerously. With me it’s a welcome tool for dealing with my biggest challenge, motivation. If I’m doing it PUBLICALLY, if I’ve made that commitment, then I’ll have no choice but to deliver, because others are sharing the ride. I look at “lonely struggle” authors, like Jonathan Franzen, when he was unknown, and say, “that’s not me.”
I read an interview with Somerset Maugham, who was (among other things) a prolific short story writer. The interviewer asked why he was so productive. He answered that he always worked under contract, so there was an editor on the other end waiting for it. If not for that (so he said) he wouldn’t have written a thing. My thought was: “LUCKY!” When you have to go to work, as most of us do, knowing that nobody in the universe is waiting for it, not even God, the social vacuum can be a motivation killer.
I’m with you. I’ve been more productive since I got a “deadline” than I’ve probably ever been, and since I’ve never actually finished a novel, I’m counting on this pressure to get me through a first draft. Even if I decide to throw in in a drawer and start from scratch, I’ll be pretty happy with what I’ve done. Before this, I found it impossible to make forward progress because I was in an endless tinkering routine with a first or second chapter. I can honestly say that the actual story is almost secondary to the benefits I’m reaping from getting my ass in gear and keeping the forward momentum going. Looking forward to chapter 3. Oh, and I’m reading “I Killed Hemingway” now. I’m about 100 pages into it and I’m loving it. What an original premise inside another original premise and some of the best characters I’ve read in a while. Love it!
I’m with you. I’ve been more productive since I got a “deadline” than I’ve probably ever been, and since I’ve never actually finished a novel, I’m counting on this pressure to get me through a first draft. Even if I decide to throw in in a drawer and start from scratch, I’ll be pretty happy with what I’ve done. Before this, I found it impossible to make forward progress because I was in an endless tinkering routine with a first or second chapter. I can honestly say that the actual story is almost secondary to the benefits I’m reaping from getting my ass in gear and keeping the forward momentum going. Looking forward to chapter 3. Oh, and I’m reading “I Killed Hemingway” now. I’m about 100 pages into it and I’m loving it. What an original premise inside another original premise and some of the best characters I’ve read in a while. Love it!
I’m with you. I’ve been more productive since I got a “deadline” than I’ve probably ever been, and since I’ve never actually finished a novel, I’m counting on this pressure to get me through a first draft. Even if I decide to throw in in a drawer and start from scratch, I’ll be pretty happy with what I’ve done. Before this, I found it impossible to make forward progress because I was in an endless tinkering routine with a first or second chapter. I can honestly say that the actual story is almost secondary to the benefits I’m reaping from getting my ass in gear and keeping the forward momentum going. Looking forward to chapter 3. Oh, and I’m reading “I Killed Hemingway” now. I’m about 100 pages into it and I’m loving it. What an original premise inside another original premise and some of the best characters I’ve read in a while. Love it!