Part III: First DraftOkay … all the preamble was done. It was time to sit down and write (and write, and write, and write).
One of the questions I’ve heard the most often in recent months is "What was it like writing something that long?" The funny thing is that The Crab is not the longest thing I’ve written—not by a long shot. And the really funny thing about the question is that my co-workers in the Wizards of the Coast RPG R&D department asked it more often than anyone else. A decent sized roleplaying game product has at least as many words as a 300-page paperback novel, and the large ones can have twice as many words. Most of my colleagues have written several project longer and more complicated than The Crab ... but for some reason fiction is seen as different. In a way, it is—I could never have written a game product this long in such a short period of time.
For those of you who have never written attempted to write fiction this long, let me tell you that generating words is probably the easiest (and most fun) part of writing a book. If you do your preparatory work right (see the Parts I & II of this series for details) the time behind the keyboard is mostly a matter of following a plan you’ve laid out and committed to memory. The tricky part is to stay focused throughout the process. It is far too easy to get distracted by … well, by anything that catches your eye: a TV show, music, telemarketers, or even ideas for projects to do after you’ve finished the book. But the most crippling distraction is the urge to radically change your outline in the middle of the first draft.
Okay … despite what I said earlier, writing the actual words can be difficult. You get so close to the book, so close to the story that you loose the ability to see it as a whole. The entirety of the book becomes the last 2 paragraphs you’ve written. And when you stumble through a page or so that just isn’t working write, you begin to think that the whole book is just a big steaming pile of poo. If you want to stay on deadline (and believe me, you DO want to stay on deadline), you have to take those thoughts, push them aside, and keep on writing. See your original vision through. Let yourself get to the end of the first draft before you decide whether or not it works.
Hmmm … it seems I’ve wandered into the realm of general advice rather than telling you about this specific project. So let me give you a little bullet point survey of the emotional rollercoaster I went through while writing The Crab.
5/15/00 — Getting started. I work at WotC every day, and write every night. Over the course of a week I get in about 8,000 words, but I figure to write faster as the weeks go along. I like what I’ve written, and I can’t wait to write more.
5/29/00 — Eight chapters finished. Things are going a little bit rougher than expected. Working day and night is jangling my nerves, so I cut back to only writing two nights per week, but I spend 10-hour days writing on the weekend. Averaging about 15,000 words per week, but I keep going back and re-writing it down to 10,000. I’m still behind, but I’m sure I’ll make it up over the next three weeks.
6/19/00 — I’ve told Rob King that I’m behind schedule and that I won’t make the deadline. He’s very calming and reassuring. I’m turning over chapters to him every week and he says they look fine …but I think they’re complete crap! I’m just spewing words. Averaging about 8,000 words per week … and spending long times in front of the computer thinking rather than typing. I know what needs to be written, but I’m working from an outline in which I no longer have any faith.
6/30/00 — Oh boy, am I in trouble! Why did the book department have such faith in me? I’m supposed to be DONE in 2 weeks, and I’m barely halfway there. Rob has gotten me an extra month because the outline phase took so long … but I’m no longer able to write in the evenings. I’m taking one day per week as "vacation" and using that and the weekend to crank out 15,000 words. I’m sure it’s complete drivel.
7/4/00 — I worked through the holiday weekend … and came out with another 10,000 words. I went back and re-read the earlier chapters, but that was a mistake. Now all I want to do is rewrite them and start from scratch. This book is going to prove that I’m nothing more than a game designer hack who thinks he can write fiction. I’ll be revealed as the imposter I am. But I don’t even have time to worry about that … I’ve got to write more.
7/15/00 — Two-thirds of the book is done now. I re-read the opening chapters again … and they seem much better than they did last week. I’m pretty sure the book opens strongly but is crashing through real "third act troubles." Maybe if I finish relatively on time and part of the manuscript is good, the book department will still let me write short fiction for their anthologies. I’m writing 15,000 words a week … but I can’t even remember most of what I write. I’m sticking to the crappy outline and plunging ahead.
7/30/00 — Due date! I’ve still got four chapters to go. The ending stinks! I don’t want to write it … why would anyone want to read it? Maybe I should go back into teaching.
8/2/00 — Because of summer convention season, Rob gives me another break of a few weeks (I think he just wants to be sure I don’t go postal), but I have to turn over a chapter a week in August to finish out. Each word is painful.
8/9/00 —Three chapters to go. Re-read the first half of the book … surprisingly it’s pretty good. I must have been worried about nothing.
8/16/00 — Two chapters to go. What was I thinking last week? This book is terrible! Couldn’t get through my own first three chapters, they make me sick!
8/23/00 — One chapter to go. Chapter 4 isn’t so bad. And there are some good paragraphs in the middle of the book. Was there ever a time I wasn’t writing this book? It seems to be going on forever and ever.
8/30/00 — Done, done, done! Didn’t even bother to re-read the whole thing, I just sent it off to Rob. I’m ready to not think about The Crab for a good long while … but when I spot read different sections I find them fun and entertaining. This may not be the best book ever, but it’s a fun read (at least to me) … and no matter what else happens, I can say that I wrote a book! Woo hoo!
Next: How much perspective can an author get in ten weeks? And how much writing is involved in "re-writing" anyway?
Rant Main Page Crab: Part 1 Crab: Part 2 Crab: Part 3 Crab: Part 4 Crab: Part 5 Crab: Part 6