How Writing a Novel's Rough Draft is Like Taking a Really Long Road Trip…

Through No-Man’s Land.

In a foreign country.

At night.

With one headlight.

And a dodgy map….

It goes something like this.

Okay.  I’m starting to get the hang of this now.  I’m starting to know what to expect.  I’m starting to figure out how to ride this bull.

No wait, let’s just stick with the road trip analogy.  Less confusing that way.

So.  I’ve got a map of where I’m going and where I eventually need to be – that would be your vague outline, the one I suggested you create during NaNoWriMo Boot Camp.  Remember that?  That includes your character GMC charts too, remember those?

Good.

Now, as you write your rough draft, you will likely meander wildly off course of your map/outline, as you should.  You don’t want to pigeonhole your story into what you created when you were not actually in-the-moment or in-the-zone.  Just like I mentioned in my NaNo Year 2 Wrap Up post, while you are actually writing the story, you should be open to whatever strikes you at the moment.  You should let your characters drive, and you should listen to the story.  It will tell you what needs to happen, and your characters will find their way out of the crazy situations you get them into in the most creative ways you yourself would have never imagined.

(That’s happened to me at least four times now…)

But.  This also means that you might possibly be writing madly for days when all of a sudden you realize what you just spent all that time writing is not working at all.

In other words, you took the wrong exit (which you swore was the correct one) and drove five hours before realizing it was the wrong one.

Much swearing, pounding of the dash, and a tire-squealing U-turn later, you head back in the right direction, but are still pretty mad about all that wasted time and mileage.

Well, I used to get upset over this aimless wandering, but not so much anymore.  Because as I also mentioned in the Wrap Up post, writing those scenes, even if they turn out to be wrong, still help you as an author deepen the characters and the world.  Ex] I just wrote 6000 words in the wrong direction.  -_-  Just realized it last night.  But the good news: the scenery was breathtaking along the way!  Translated, this means I discovered some backstory I previously was unaware of, and now I can keep that backstory in hand as I haul ass back to the correct exit.  I also have a handful of characters already created now who can come in later.

The rough draft is a WIP… sometimes it’s hard to remember that, but I’m getting better at it.  Remembering it’s just that: IN PROGRESS.  It is in no way complete, even if you have that map in hand.  You are venturing out into the unknown, and the only thing you really know for certain is the few yards of road you can see immediately in front of you in the glow of the headlights.  I’m just creeping along at this point, focusing on the section of road directly in front of me.

I don’t know what the future holds, really.  I know at some point I’ll end up in my destination town, aka, at THE END, but how exactly I’ll get there is not nearly as certain as the map in my hands makes it look.

So, if you are working on your rough draft at the moment, stay open to U-turns and dead ends.  Sometimes listen to that backseat driver and plunge off into that dark, twisty, terrifyingly-narrow mountain passage.  You will find things there you would have never found staying on that main highway.

This is a brand new story, after all, and you are uncovering its secrets one by one.  Enjoy the ride as you go, and try not to let the side-trips bother you.

I think I’ve finally got a handle on how to drive this bus… I can’t wait to see where else I end up!!!