First Draft Growing Pains
I’ve never…ever had a manuscript that has been this painful to get the first draft completed. OUCH!! I don’t know why either. I think the story is good. I think the characters are interesting. I KNOW the sex is hot. So why can’t I seem to get through this one?
Once I’m done the first draft I can rip it apart and fix it. I know I complain about revision on occasion, but I don’t really mind. That’s where I can make the story so much more than it was before. But if I can’t get there, I can’t fix it. I’ve taken time away from the manuscript. I’ve had someone else read it and they really liked it. But each page is like pulling teeth.
Here’s what I’m going to do. I’m giving myself two weeks to finish this book. I only need 30,000 words to get the book to a word count where I’ll be happy. Considering I won NaNoWriMo this year, finishing the book in two and a half weeks, this shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll be starting my NaNo writing schedule up again: 6am, 1pm, 8pm for an hour each. Let’s hope that gets me through it.
So I’ll be tracking my progress here over the next two weeks so you guys can keep me honest. 
February 21st, 2007 at 9:49 am
You can do it Christine!
I’m looking forward to tracking your progress - I really do think it’s motivational. It pushes you when you just know you’re sooooo close to your goal!
February 21st, 2007 at 9:54 am
Go Christine go!
But the key thing here is that I get over the “stiffness” that I feel to the writing and get writing again.
I know that I’ve had days where I just seem to be stopped on the next section. I usually just take a breather, relax and consider where I want the next section to go. Then I put pen to paper and it comes out different anyhow.
February 21st, 2007 at 10:38 am
Wow, you go! I’ll be watching your progress and cheering!
February 21st, 2007 at 12:09 pm
You can so do it Christine! I’m sure you won’t forget the gruelling NaNo we did last year.
You are WAY more on the ball than me. Do I have to get out the whip for you?
I want to see more books added to your EC contact page! I want to be able to say I’m friends with bestselling author Christine D’abo, stellar supastar!
Oh heck, I say that now!
February 21st, 2007 at 12:48 pm
My last ms was like that too. Hard, hard, hard.
I wonder if once you’ve leapt some big hurdle (me getting an agent, you getting published) that the pressure suddenly goes up and you expect so much more of yourself and that’s one reason it gets harder?
Don’t know. Some books are just harder than others…
But you can get through this!!! You will.
February 21st, 2007 at 1:29 pm
Yeah! Christine. Great attitude. Get that first draft done so you can revise and get that story into publication.
February 21st, 2007 at 3:44 pm
Good luck getting to the end. I’m having a bit of a problem with my first draft too!
February 21st, 2007 at 3:49 pm
Thanks everyone. I managed to get some writing done on my lunch hour (or what little of it I was able to take). I also grabbed my note book and plotted out what will happen from chapter ten to the end. Now being a pantser this was hard. But I think it’s what I needed to do.
Kelly we should have an emergency RWAC meeting - first draft 911.
February 22nd, 2007 at 1:04 pm
Great way of doing it, I think I may adopt a similar system myself, I usually just write when I am in the mood, whether that is for hours on end or just 30 minutes.