Tips to Write the First Draft

Everywhere  we look, there is an avalanche of information about the craft of writing, from how to write that perfect book, to how to hook readers in the first chapter/line/word, to how to start with the conflict, avoid an overdose of back story,  to do away with lengthy  descriptions,  a new writer may get overwhelmed with all the techniques, advice and tips  and in the process may  not be true to his or her story. They may actually get paralyzed with shock.

With the information overload in the market  about “ How to  Write “ and “ What to Write” and  “The Way to Write” a new or unpublished writer can really  get confused.  They may even wonder if they have  the talent to write.  Doubts and insecurities will creep in.  Fear may even bring forth the writer’s block. What everyone forgets is that a writer knows his or her story  best. He or she is familiar with the  character, conflict and resolution, as it has  emerged from the womb of his/her mind.

To avoid  First Draft Jitters, writers should write the first draft just for themselves. What we all should  and must do is write the first draft just the way the story is unfolding in our mind, or before our eyes. There will be sufficient time later to rework on the technique and fine tune everything.  Though I am no expert, my advice would be to  let the story flow first before we start listening to each and every bit of advice thrown at us. And not every advice is worth following. After all, you definitely know your story best.  You know what  your character wants, and how he or she will get it, and what they will sacrifice to reach their goal. You know who your characters will meet in  their journey, and how they will  be transformed after each interaction, and what kind of emotions they will undergo at each phase.

I feel we all must first  just  get the story down on paper, or  on the computer.  After the entire story has been vomited, with all its  flaws and shortcomings, we can   focus  on the mechanics and technique later,  definitely in the subsequent drafts and rewrites.  The subsequent drafts can be given a  complete makeover keeping most of the important advice in mind.

What about you all? How do you handle first drafts? Is it just you and the story, or do you follow every writing craft book when you start  putting those  initial words down on paper? What advice would you give a new writer  regarding first drafts?

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When in Trouble, Summon your Favourite Author

While working on my current WIP,  before I could plunge my protagonist into troubled  shark infested water, I ended up putting myself in it. I had chosen a  theme that was unusual and different. Creating  a world class mischief maker  is not a joke. I never play pranks and  to be honest, I have no connection with pranksters.

 I seldom discuss my books with anyone, especially while writing the first draft. So I found myself in  a self dug hole. I badly needed guidance. When I  told my nephew few pranks to check out their potency, he  said “you have read so many Roald Dahl books,  you should be able to do justice to your book. Think like him.” I had introduced him to Dahl when he was eight.

At that moment things slid into place. I decided why not. I could  summon Dahl, and  pretend that he was writing my book whenever I got stuck. What prank would  Dahl  pull  in this scene, how would he tackle that situation, what devious idea would he come up with. Everytime I got stuck, I pleaded with Mr Dahl to help me out.

After that it was easy, I breezed through portions I  had earlier found difficult and troublesome. Hopefully my editor too finds them  nice. My fingers are crossed.

 I think this advice would work  well for all of us. I chose the author who wrote middle grade fiction (  the genre I write). I am sure we all have our  favourites in the genres we write, and I am sure we are familiar with their style and technique. So why not get into their skin when we find ourselves in tight spots, or at dead ends. It’s not like we are copying them. It’s just a way to work out those tangled knots and if and when we choose we can rewrite later.

 The best thing about this idea was that I  could see the book from my favourite writer’s perspective.  Having read all  Dahl’s books twice, I was pretty familiar with his humor and style. It was easy to get into his skin, and  invite him into my life to help me tide over those treacherous  and troublesome paths. Though the writing style is mine,  the thoughts are mine, the ideas are mine,  but just by trying to think like him  helped me  whenever I tied myself  in tight knots. It was like he was guiding me towards the direction I must take or untying the knots for me.

How do you all tackle those tricky spots that come up while you are writing? Whom do you turn to? Is there something  that helps you bypass those roadblocks? Is there someone who helps you navigate those tricky bends? Please share, we all badly need to learn those tips.

P.S. I will not be posting on Friday 5th November as its Diwali (our Festival of  Lights). I will see you all next Tuesday.


A Must Read for all  Writers is a post  Inspirations, which  I read  at Adventures in Agentland .

The Invisible Hand Guiding Our Writing

This  post is inspired by a  comment made by my blog and writing mentor Lia Keyes.  

Here is her comment  on my post  Ganesha’s Symbolism for  Writers  “What a lovely idea, Rachna, to tie your spiritual beliefs to your writing. I do think that writers who stop trying to direct their writing from a factual place within themselves and instead listen to a higher source, as though taking dictation, tend to end up with a more soulful end result that moves readers more deeply.”

Lia’s comment resonates with me. Because I  too believe that  we have an Invisible Hand Guiding our  Writing  from a far off place. Sometimes the stories our dictated to us. At other times key points are whispered into our ears so that we are able to build a story based on that.  Actually if we come down to it where do we get our ideas and thoughts from.  There has to be a larger source of ideas  from where we tap our story ideas. The reservoir of ideas  I believe is  held by the power who controls us. We may call it by different names.

This super power is  not only responsible for our ideas but also whispers in our ears to work on those ideas. He gives us the patience and dedication and infuses in us the passion to pursue our dream. Have you noticed how from a basic seed (germ  of an idea) we are able to weave tales of  hundred odd pages, add all kinds of characters, write thousands of words that make a huge impact on our readers. Whenever we are weighed down by  pressure, something or the other is always there to ease our burden. When we are plumbing the depths of despair, in a strange but surprising way a  small good news drops into our laps. It could be a critic partner’s fabulous feedback, a blog award,  news about a manuscript or story we had sent somewhere. This Invisible Hand is always quick to brush away our tears.

 Its this Invisible Hand  that sweeps away the Writer’s Block that  crops up at frequent intervals in our lives. At those times when we  are stuck, he is responsible for the AHA moments that help us in crossing the big hurdles.

Its always God’s subtle hand that sees us creating  anything beautiful.  Many writers see  glimpses of their stories in dreams.  Others have visions where their characters come to life. The Muse who I consider God’s messenger for Scribes carries the messages to our brains. Any thing of beauty  has God’s hand behind it: at times supporting the effort, at other times urging us along and  many times holding us when we fall.

Several times when I am stuck big time I have seen that Invisible Hand coming to my rescue in different ways. Maybe a conversation  with a friend helps in untangling the plot, sometimes while watching a movie  my story unravels in my mind. Many times story ideas pop into my mind when I least expect it. Something I see on the road motivates me to change my character’s behaviour or goal.      

                        

What about the Invisible Hand Guiding your Stories? How have you felt that divine presence? Will you share your experiences with us?

Are you Spending Quality Time with your WIP?

Am I asking a too obvious a question? Ofcourse, you all must be spending every waking moment and  few sleepy ones  too, thinking of your Works In Progress. I am sure your characters visit your dreams. Mine don’t, though I dream  a lot about  books.

For the past few weeks I realized that too many things were staking their claim on my time. My priorities were getting topsy turvy. From being on top my WIP had slipped to the bottom of my  priority pile. And that was a BAD thing. How would I able to do justice to my manuscript if I just did not spend any time with it. Would I even be able to see its strengths ( I wish it has atleast  a few). Would I be able to pinpoint its weaknesses (never mind).

If we want to get to know a person we do spend some time acquainting ourselves with their likes and dislikes, getting to know them a bit more intimately ( now don't get any wise ideas). All I mean is  familiarizing ourselves  with their tastes, learning what keeps them ticking, what are their turn offs and what touches them the most. I am very  aware  of   what is happening  in  all  my close friends’  lives, actually they update me about their status frequently and not just via facebook, but via long winded phonecalls.

So, isn’t it our duty to get to know our WIP more closely? Afterall  our WIP  is  going to be one of our  closest friends  for a long, long  time. How do we do that? Well….there are several ways. I love listening to music. That’s the quality  time I   spend with my manuscript. I plug in the ear phones and pick up a blank sheet of paper and start getting  to know my manuscript more closely.

All my thoughts about my manuscript  make their appearance on that sheet. What is the story about. Does it have a single turning point or several.  Is my MC unique? How can I make her  standout? Am I  saying something new or recycling the old thoughts. Can I add an unusual element to the story that a reader has not come across before (this exercise made me add two  new features to my MG manuscript). I just wonder where these inventions were hiding inside my mind.

Are these situations a little different  from the other books. Why should a child pick up my book and not someone elses? What more can I offer in this chapter? Am I introducing anything new here (that particular train of thought made me add a love quadrangle). One boy and three girls, with my MC being one of them.  It has added an entire new angle to the story.

As the music changes so do my thoughts. Can  I increase the conflict, make the protagonist and antagonist clash  some more before the grand finale. How do I make their clashes interesting? Which element can I add  to their battle that has not surfaced in other MG books?

I have decided to continue this bonding exercise  for many more days. Its opening up hitherto tightly closed parts of my mind, clearing up all the clutter and blowing away the cobwebs. And listening to music makes me happy and being with my manuscript more so. I realized that I hardly knew my manuscript, but, now I  am getting to know it better and better.

How do you all spend quality time with your beloveds, I mean manuscripts. Your literary significant other. How do you get to know your manuscripts better? Do you have any bonding tips for  us to try out?

Does Choosing Titles Drive You Crazy ?

Has the dense and complicated maze of titles made you break into a sweat? Have you like me been tormented and tortured by title trouble, then, this post is just for you. I love writing, but, when it comes to choosing a title for my work, then, I end up tearing my hair in frustration. In the initial stages of my writing, titles use to drive me crazy, they would tie me up in tricky knots.

Right from my college days, my journalism lecturer (the first person to notice the complete mismatch of title and content) constantly urged me to choose better titles for my articles and features. According to her my titles never did my writing justice. This habit continued even when I started writing for newspapers. Often the titles of the features and stories I sent were changed. And changed for the better.

I constantly wondered how other writers came up with such awesome and amazing titles. Jealousy and envy stabbed my heart whenever I read their titles. Days later when I discussed this with a writing friend, she agreed. She too was tortured by titles. But her advice was something I just loathed. “I never give titles for my stories, the editor will anyway change it. So why waste time?”

I was extremely firm about not letting someone else choose titles for my hard work. It’s like allowing other people to name one’s children. That privilege should solely rest with the parents, and in the case of titles it’s the duty of the literary parents: the writers.

To become title savvy, I plunged headlong into the world of titles. It couldn’t be that hard, I thought. If few writers could achieve wonders with it, so could I. Whenever I read any articles or books, I pondered over the titles. Did it suit the story? Was it a perfect match? Slowly I transferred this detailed attention onto my work. What was I trying to tell my readers? What was the article/book all about? How could I sum up the work in few words? What was the best way to convey what I had written? Which words correctly described my story?

It was a tedious task, but eventually I got the hang of it. Nowadays the title trauma no longer affects me. For the past several years, the editors have thankfully retained most of my titles. In my title quest, I have learnt several things about them…

1. A title should be like a Teaser. It should arouse curiousity. Based on the titles readers pick up books, or, read the articles and stories in newspapers.

2. Diving into the heart of the story to emerge with a suitable title is a great idea.

3. Short and Snappy titles have immediate attraction.

4. Popular and catchy phrases work better than long and boring ones.

5. Titles that have Instant Recall are seldom forgotten.

What about you all? Do Titles Trouble and Torment you? Or, are you the lucky ones who come up with winners? Do you have any title tips that you would like to share?