[05.14]

your writing doesn’t have to be perfect. it just has to make someone feel something.

The Reader’s Four Horsemen of the Bore-Apocalypse:

This would have been a really intense scene if there had been proper build up prior to it.

This would have been a really intense scene if it wasn’t a repeat of a scene from four chapters ago.

This would have been a really intense scene if I cared about the characters more.

This would have been a really intense scene if it wasn’t an over dramatic mess of miscommunication and out of character angst. 

Bonus points if the scene includes all four at once.

current events

reading:song of Achillies

annotating: catching fire

watching: law and order svu

learning: Latin, photography, lace making

making: crocheting a mesh sweater

drawing: posion ivy cosplay sketchj

writing: moon, dreamer and me & riptide

feb 12th

hey pookies, today i wasn't very productive, but I forgive myself because I wanted to sleep in and I will have a very busy next 4 days and studied:

today i:

slept in

studied for my exam and am fairly confident in taking it

put away clothes

tided my room

went to a meeting

took a quiz

i have no assigments and no tests to study for. wtf? im free? 100% free? i will wake up tomorrow and think "what do i have schedule to do today?" and there will be absolute nothing? insane

i love being mysterious and not telling anyone about important stuff that might be happening until it's a done deal i feel sneaky lmao

"don't worry about it" i say while spending nights directing what I did to make you do that to me

I be like “yeah we cool” then never feel comfortable interacting with u again

Hey, so i'm working on my first WIP, and i wanted to ask about drafting. When can one consider their first draft done? Does it have to have the goal word count (ie; 100K), or would being about halfway there be considered a good enough first draft, that i can move on to the second and start editing?

Concluding each stage of the writing process

It's difficult to know when a phase of a writing project has concluded and you're ready to focus on a new objective as it's developing. I tend to approach my writing projects with a clear and uniform trajectory, regardless of how diverse my projects can be. This approach allows me to remain focused, thorough, and reassured that I am covering all my bases in an organized fashion. However, it also maintains space for me to be explorative and intuitive when necessary. In regards to word count, I don't think it's entirely relevant unless you're determined to adhere to strict genre conventions. Give your story the space it needs and not an extra inch.

(Optional) Zero Draft

In this phase, you're telling yourself the story. You're doing it quickly, messily, intuitively, and forgivingly. Explore every idea that glows in the dark for you, don't throw anything away or discount any possibility. Exhaust your imagination in this phase so that when you reach the first draft, you know you're making informed decisions.

First Draft

You're crafting the structure and core elements of the story. This is often the phase of discovery. You're becoming acquainted with your characters and how they interact, you're beginning to feel at home in the world and settings you've built, and you're seeing all sides of the conflict as it evolves. The goal here is settle on a beginning, middle, and end point, and by the end of this process you want to know your characters' motivations and relationships inside and out.

Second Draft

Go back quickly through the first draft and address any points where you got stuck, where you compromised for the sake of carrying on to the end, and fill in any apparent blanks. The first time you really iron something out, there will always be a few pesky creases. This is the time to find and flatten them.

Third Draft

This is where you question everything. Identify and scrutinize your decisions, dive into the "curtains are blue" discussions with yourself, and begin to tidy up things like grammar, clumsy dialogue, over-poured descriptions, and dubious vocabulary. Comb through each paragraph and be brutal, prioritizing clarity and intentionality of how you've told the story.

The Read Through

This is the point where I recommend doing three things:

Letting it rest away from you for 1-3 months so that you can return to it with a bit of unfamiliarity and new perspective.

Hand it off to a couple of trusted readers and give them ample time to read, digest, and craft some feedback

Reread the project once all the way through making no changes (although annotations are acceptable)

Fourth Draft

Finishing touches. Vigorously and meticulously scrub and scrape between the lines and imagine giving it to your worst enemy. If you can imagine any mean (but valid) things they could conceive of to say about it, this is the time to grapple with or fix those details.

Additional Resources

Guide to Drafting

Word Count/Productivity Tracker Spreadsheet

Balancing Detail & Development

Writing The First Chapter

Writing The Middle of Your Story

Powering Through The Zero-Draft Phase

Writing The Last Chapter

Chapter Length

Happy drafting,

x Kate

[4.16]

today I: drunk 3 bottles of water ate 3 meals got advised sewed a dress studied organized writing projects journaled

It's only Tueday, and I end the day with a horrible uncomfortable feeling. It's like someone is gently tugging at my heart, and it only makes me feel all wrong, like something bad is about to happen. I can't do anything about it but sleep it off I guess, but at least I end the day knowing that I managed to be somewhat productive. I have a lower grade in one of my classes then I thought, and though I'm passing, I'm not doing as well as I hoped. That's to be expected considering how I procrastinated on every assignment at the beginning of the semester, though there is no use in dwelling on what I could have done better, just doing better. So I am doing better now by working on my assignment even though it is due next week. I go to bed early because Tomorrow I have to wake up at the ass crack of dawn to register for classes and sign up for summer classes.