PUKE

Okay, so not the classiest of titles for a blog post. But that's what I've been doing lately. I'm not sick...I'm just drafting new work. And I've decided that's actually the most accurate, vivid way to depict the drafting process. I mean, a first draft isn't supposed to be pretty. It's just supposed to come out. Just like, well...

I've also discovered a fantastic new way to get through the puking drafting process. I call it Give Credit Where Credit's Due. So often, at the end of the day, a writer can look at the number of words (or pages) and feel a little rotten about how skimpy it seems. Really, though, it's so much better for a writer's mental health to take stock of what really happened during the drafting process that day. If you figured out a plotting problem or made a breakthrough with backstory, that's worth far more than the sheer number of words typed that day. Always remember to take stock of what you accomplished, not what you think you should have accomplished.

Speaking of word count, though, I've also started giving myself credit for all the words I write during the drafting process...even notes to self, scrawled down the margins of notebook paper. I find that if I give myself credit for the words written outside of the story, I allow myself to go on tangents, to explore aspects of the story that might not ever have been addressed (at least, not in the earliest stages of writing the book).

All of this makes drafting infinitely more enjoyable. And that's definitely important, for someone who far prefers revising to drafting. Drafting's now so much more enjoyable, in fact, that I'm celebrating all WIPs at my house—even the WIP belonging to my dog, as this snazzy new sign illustrates! (More on Jake's WIP here.)


Happy puking drafting, everyone!