Yesterday I surprised myself by completing the first draft of the new novel I am calling “Ordinary Life.” I think that title will stick. I know speed is not related to quality, but I was able to write at least three drafts of each of the sixty-three chapters, over almost 56,000 words, in forty-one days of writing. This was start to finish without an outline.
That is not long enough–75,000 words is my goal. I think that will happen in my second full draft through the organic development of things already on the pages.
That method itself has been a revelation. Day after day I sat down with only a tiny idea or no idea at all, and the material just began growing. For example, yesterday, I had three things, one for each of the last three chapters: Carla, Oak tree, Flat tire.
One of the ideas I tried to carry out in the first draft was that none of the truths I wanted to incarnate in the story could be stated. Everything along those lines has to be hidden in the story so that the reader can infer them, if he wishes. The story itself, though, should be enough as a story. I hope it is.
I have new rule for myself in the second draft that will help me look at the prose from the reader’s perspective: Does each sentence help the reader feel something or learn something? The learning should be inferred by the reader too: for example, the reader might think, oh, that’s why this character did that. The ‘feel something’ part is broader: amusement, curiosity, love, hatred, desire, aversion, joy, sorrow, hope, despair, courage, fear, and even anger. Two thing I don’t want the reader ever to feel are confusion or boredom.
So far amusement has been one of my best friends. I seem to be able to pull off lots of comedy in this drama.
So today I rewrote the first chapter about six times. I’ll post it in the next entry.
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