No, really.
Don't believe me? Feast your eyes on these killer lines I just wrote:
And there, in the middle of it all, Lou. Doing not a goddamn thing.That's some fine prose right there, isn't it? No, of course not. It's utter rubbish.1 But this is still the first draft, so I'm allowed to churn out line after line of horrendously horrific garbage. I'm the only one reading it, after all.
I won't get away with it for long, however.2 I'm inching — or rather, millimetering — toward the novel's stunning conclusion3 as we speak.4
That's right, the end is near(...ish). Sometime this year, I'll put the finishing touches on Chapter 40, sit back, give a little smile and say, "Shit. I have a lot of editing to do." But then I'll begin the edits, and the second draft will go faster, because I've always found editing easier. I'll remove all the trash from this draft, or at least polish it up so it's another man's treasure, and then finally start to let people read it.
That's right, you might actually get to read my novel sometime soon(...ish).5 Now, aren't you glad I'm not here? Instead of entertaining you for a couple minutes now, I'm working on something that
That is all. Now just carry on, and pretend like I was never here.
(Because I wasn't.)
1 Yep, two straight sentence fragments. Coupled with casual profanity. My writing's classy as all fuck.
2 Some shaggy fellow has started snooping around with his dog.
3 What's stunning is it may actually have a conclusion.
4 Note: We are not actually speaking. These are words on a page. Er, screen. Unless you printed this out. You didn't, did you? If you wasted paper printing out my blog, we are going to have words.
5 Assuming you're a person. As I said, I'm only letting people read it. If you're an animal, you'll have to wait for my next book, Thank You Furry Much. If you're a robot, in 2014 I'll be doing Life Sentience.
And there, in the middle of it all, Lou. Doing not a goddamn thing.
ReplyDeleteI'll make that line better for you.
And there, in the middle of it all, Lou, doing not a goddamn thing.
BAM! Now that's an awesome line!
Holy hell, you cut my number of sentence fragments clear in half. GENIUS!
DeleteI do what I can.
Delete(And way to go working on your novel. Some people sack up and get things done. Some people make excuses for the rest of their lives. I look forward to reading it some day if I'm so lucky.)
Whereas I hope I'm somewhere in between. I've made excuses the past few years (wedding, baby, toddler, etc.) but it's getting to be about sacking time. I owe it to myself (and others) to get this thing done.
DeleteYeah, you'll have a lot of editing...
ReplyDeleteOh, certainly. More than on most books, I would think. In the years since I've started writing it, the characters (of which there are many) and their motivations have changed, as has my knowledge of what makes good writing (and consequently, my writing style). And that's why no one gets to start reading until I'm moving through draft #2.
Delete