What I Need to Know Before I Draft
And why I am leaning into my intuition
@lisa asks:
Now that you’re writing more intuitively, do you find there are certain things you need to know before diving into drafting? (e,g., want/need, something about the conflict, self-revelation, etc)
Ah, what a doozy of a question. Seems simple, but in reality, it lacks an easy answer. Because I still don't know, Lisa.
That's right. Despite 12+ finished books on my hard drive, another 7+ unfinished ones, and countless ideas and half-formed proposals, I still do not have know what I need before I start drafting.
Now wait—before you run off and think I have nothing to offer you and the post’s title was misleading, read on! Because as you’ll see, the “not knowing” is sort of the point.
If you had asked me this question a few years ago, Lisa, I would have said I needed only a character’s voice and their desperate desire. In fact, I’m almost certain I’ve said that in a newsletter at some point. Probably several.
It isn't wrong! But it also isn’t everything.
Sometimes, I need to know the story world inside and out. Other times, I need to know the character's backstory inside and out. Sometimes, even when I know both of those things, the Right Story still won't appear for me.
It's frustrating.
Actually, it's downright infuriating, and I find it most vexing when I'm dealing with sequels. I should know those characters intimately—I should know their voices, their worlds, their backstories, their desires, and yet…I can never connect. I can never just finish one book and slide right into the sequel.
WHY?
Like you said: I'm trying to write more intuitively this year. Working with Becca Syme has revealed to me that my previous approaches weren't always helping me create...but instead sometimes holding me back.
Or rather, my own frustrations with the “messiness” of my process was holding me back.
So this year, 2022, has been a real exploration of what “messy” even really means and why I create that way. If I look back at the past, when have I been my most successful in drafting? When have I struggled the most?
These are good questions for all writers to ask. When has something you were so certain you had to do + loved doing (outlining 🙋♀️) actually been the thing that maybe held you back? And on the flip side, when were you refusing to do something because you thought it wasn't effective for you (trusting your gut instead of your brain 🙋♀️)?
I've tried all sorts of new things this year in attempt to answer that question. I've pantsed with absolutely no plan at all. It didn't work. Never, not once on a single project—a sequel or in something new—did this work for me.1
I wrote with only cookies to guide me. This was super successful for one project...and then not at all successful with another.
I built the world first and then tried to find my way into the story from there. This was successful for one project...but again, not another.
I heard the characters but went in knowing nothing about the world. Also worked for one project, but not another.
I outlined, I plotted, I brainstormed with friends…and I found no consistency for myself. The same is true for when I look back at my past "successes"—I also cannot point to a clear through line between each one.
The only thing I can definitively say is that I am 1000x faster writing first books and standalones than I am writing sequels.
Yet even then, I love series. I love sequels. I love the payoff you can get with a slow build and the careful assembly of plot threads and character relationships. I’m just…………not great at actually drafting them. At least, not quickly.
I feel like I need to get that tattooed on my body: At least not quickly.
Or better yet, I need to get Oliver Burkeman’s quote that I love so much…
Some things just take the time they take.
I talked about why I love this quote so much here, but it’s a good reminder to constantly give myself.
Maybe I don’t understand why my “process” works. Maybe it takes me longer than I want it to take to write and finish a sequel. Maybe it’s all as messy as the living room after an hour with the toddler and her toy box.
Does that make my “process” wrong?
No. There’s nothing wrong with being a slower writer. Yes, I’d love to finish more quickly and sell more books and finally get all these ideas BURSTING from my brain into the brains of readers,2 but just as "finishing what you start in one go" isn't virtuous, nor is writing faster.
And nor is being intimately aware of the steps of your process.
Do I think it’s worthwhile to TRY to learn your process? Yes. I also think it’s worthwhile to TRY to finish in one go, to TRY to outline, to TRY to pants, to TRY all sorts of new methods until you find out what will work for this particular project at this particular point in your life.
I am an ever-changing person. The ideas in my head are ever-growing, and the ways that I want to tell story are ever-maturing.
It is okay if I don’t know what I need to write a book. It’s okay if that target is always changing. And it’s okay if I get frustrated and wish it would all just come together a bit more easily.
Clearly I write books and finish them. Clearly readers enjoy those books too. So clearly, even if it’s messy and unpredictable, I am still doing something right.
Some things just take the time they take—and they take the methodology they take. I will just keep adapting to whatever that is as I go along.
And that, dear Lisa, is the one thing I need to know going into a book: it’s okay to be totally clueless and feel my way forward. It’s okay trust that the latest project probably won’t be like the last, and the next one probably won’t be like this one I’m tackling now.
I’m trusting my gut. I’m letting my intuition guide me toward whatever “process” it currently needs.
Thank you all for reading! Have a fantastic weekend, and if you’re a paid subscriber, stay tuned for some subscriptions coming your way that you can give out as gifts!
🐙 - Sooz
Doesn't mean it won't for you, though!
The whole point of writing stories is because I need to share what it’s in my head. None of my stories matter until someone else has enjoyed them. Like, I have a spark but it can’t be a flame until someone else has experienced the story with me. I used to think this was why all writers wrote—to share and connect. I have learned this year this isn’t the case at all! Not even most of my friends write for this reason! I am apparently weird.
I really like your footnote about why you write. My reason is the same, but I thought I was alone in that and the weird one 😅
Loved this one!! ♥️ Thank you!