{"id":8823,"date":"2022-01-29T17:02:55","date_gmt":"2022-01-29T17:02:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/?p=8823"},"modified":"2022-01-29T17:04:45","modified_gmt":"2022-01-29T17:04:45","slug":"the-seventh-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/the-seventh-year\/","title":{"rendered":"The Seventh Year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On Decem\u00adber 7, 2015, I began writ\u00ading my epic nov\u00adel (my mag\u00adnum opus<\/em>), and while I\u2019ve also worked on oth\u00ader projects on and off since then, the vast major\u00adi\u00adty of my time and ener\u00adgy has gone into what I refer to as \u201cthe Big Book.\u201d This means that I\u2019ve been writ\u00ading this book for six years<\/em>, and I\u2019ve just entered the sev\u00adenth<\/em> year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This T\u2011shirt has got\u00adten a LOT of wear this year.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The thing that is some\u00adwhat dis\u00adheart\u00aden\u00ading for me is this: I\u2019m still on the sec\u00adond<\/em> draft of the book. Because the Big Book is so long (my pre\u00addic\u00adtion is that, when fin\u00adished, it will weigh in at 800K to 1M words), it will actu\u00adal\u00adly be pre\u00adsent\u00aded in 6 vol\u00adumes, or episodes as I call them. And here\u2019s the real\u00adly<\/em> dis\u00adheart\u00aden\u00ading fact: yes\u00adter\u00adday I just<\/em> fin\u00adished the sec\u00adond draft of Episode 2. Two out of a pos\u00adsi\u00adble 6.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Actu\u00adal\u00adly, while I\u2019ve only com\u00adplet\u00aded the sec\u00adond draft of two episodes, I did man\u00adage to fin\u00adish half of Episode 3, so tech\u00adni\u00adcal\u00adly I\u2019ve fin\u00adished 2\u00bd out of 6, which is a lit\u00adtle bet\u00adter. Look\u00ading my writ\u00ading pro\u00adduc\u00adtiv\u00adi\u00adty over the entire year, how\u00adev\u00ader, the num\u00adbers are stag\u00adger\u00ading. To fin\u00adish those 2\u00bd episodes this year, I wrote or revised approx\u00adi\u00admate\u00adly 475,000<\/strong> words (that\u2019s a lit\u00adtle more than 6 copies of my A Real Piece of Work<\/em>), and wrote anoth\u00ader approx\u00adi\u00admate\u00adly 30,000 words in the jour\u00adnal of the Big Book and on my blog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s HALF A MILLION words writ\u00adten or rewrit\u00adten. Not bad for a year\u2019s work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rewrit\u00ading com\u00admand cen\u00adtral. Note the new com\u00adput\u00ader and the awe\u00adsome ver\u00adti\u00adcal\u00adly-ori\u00adent\u00aded mon\u00adi\u00adtor. :)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

You might be won\u00adder\u00ading why I\u2019m prat\u00adtling on about all of these num\u00adbers. Well, here\u2019s the deal: writ\u00ading nov\u00adels is as much a num\u00adbers game as it is a words game. To fin\u00adish a nov\u00adel, any nov\u00adel, the writer has to con\u00adsis\u00adtent\u00adly write or rewrite a min\u00adi\u00admum num\u00adber of words every day. The writer needs to do this for at least three drafts, and the writer needs to work a con\u00adsis\u00adtent num\u00adber of hours each day. Num\u00adbers of words, num\u00adbers of drafts, num\u00adbers of hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back in Decem\u00adber, when I entered the sev\u00adenth year of this project, I real\u00adized a cou\u00adple things. First, if I want\u00aded to meet my goal of fin\u00adish\u00ading the entire book by 2024 or 2025, I had to let go of my desire for per\u00adfec\u00adtion in every draft. Instead, by any<\/em> means\u2014by any dodge, cheat, hack, or pos\u00adi\u00adtive or neg\u00ada\u00adtive rein\u00adforce\u00adment I could conceive\u2014I had to sim\u00adply fin\u00adish<\/em> the sec\u00adond draft of all 6 episodes. This sec\u00adond draft will nev\u00ader be seen by the read\u00ading pub\u00adlic, I told myself, so in a sense it doesn\u2019t mat\u00adter. Sec\u00adond I real\u00adized that, while I might be the most self-dis\u00adci\u00adplined and self-direct\u00aded per\u00adson I know, I still need to have iron\u00adclad dead\u00adlines; for me, if fin\u00adish dates are left open-end\u00aded, that just gives the per\u00adfec\u00adtion\u00adist in me more time to tin\u00adker, and f\u2011ck tin\u00adker\u00ading at this stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This stage, this draft, is all about get it the f\u2011ck fin\u00adished<\/em>. Peri\u00adod. So, with these two real\u00adiza\u00adtions in mind, I have cre\u00adat\u00aded a pro\u00adduc\u00adtion sched\u00adule for myself for the rest of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feb\u00adru\u00adary and March<\/strong>: Fin\u00adish the sec\u00adond draft of Episode 3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

April, May, June<\/strong>: Fin\u00adish the sec\u00adond draft of Episode 4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

July, August, Sep\u00adtem\u00adber<\/strong>: Fin\u00adish the sec\u00adond draft of Episode 5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Octo\u00adber, Novem\u00adber, Decem\u00adber<\/strong>: Fin\u00adish the sec\u00adond draft of Episode 6.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Decem\u00adber 31, 2022, I want to be fin\u00adished with the sec\u00adond draft of the entire epic nov\u00adel. It\u2019s an incred\u00adi\u00adbly daunt\u00ading goal, but as Lao Tzu once wrote, \u201cThe jour\u00adney of a thou\u00adsand miles begins with a sin\u00adgle step.\u201d Over the course of 30 years of doing this stuff, I\u2019ve become very good at con\u00adtin\u00adu\u00ading to make that next step. From one of my ances\u00adtors I inher\u00adit\u00aded this abil\u00adi\u00adty to just keep putting one foot in front of the oth\u00ader, and to fin\u00adish big projects by com\u00adplet\u00ading small task after small task.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh, and did I men\u00adtion that my wife and I recent\u00adly began hunt\u00ading for a house again (stress), and that I diag\u00adnosed myself as hav\u00ading stu\u00adpid GERD from my 30 years of cof\u00adfee-drink\u00ading, so I recent\u00adly had to give up cof\u00adfee? (One def\u00adi\u00adn\u00adi\u00adtion of a writer: a machine that con\u00adverts cof\u00adfee into words.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yeah. It SUUHHHHHHCCCCCCKKKKKSSSS<\/em>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But in life, we can either adapt and live (maybe even thrive), or we can stay the same and die. I choose to adapt. It\u2019s Redfin for the house hunt and green tea for the GERD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Half a league, half a league, half a league onward!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The over\u00adwork and self-cre\u00adat\u00aded STRESS has caused me to overeat a bit.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In a recent inter\u00adview<\/a> with my best friend Jason Scott (inter\u00adnet archivist, com\u00adput\u00ader his\u00adto\u00adri\u00adan, film\u00admak\u00ader and now suc\u00adcess\u00adful pod\u00adcast\u00ader, the bril\u00adliant f\u2011cker), Jason says that he has always admired my self-dis\u00adci\u00adpline and my \u201cpret\u00adty impres\u00adsive\u201d rou\u00adtine of writ\u00ading and fit\u00adness. Well, as I said in the inter\u00adview, I\u2019m hard\u00adly super-human. As I point\u00aded out in one of my recent blog entries, when I am draw\u00ading near to a dead\u00adline, the stress (self-imposed stress, but stress nonethe\u00adless) usu\u00adal\u00adly caus\u00ades me to overeat and exer\u00adcise less. For the past month, I\u2019ve only exer\u00adcised three days a week instead of my usu\u00adal six, and I\u2019ve been self-sooth\u00ading through junk food: Jel\u00adly Bel\u00adly Sours, Mike & Ike, Pop\u00adcorners (ched\u00addar cheese), Newman\u2019s piz\u00adzas, and Bread Alone bread. The result is, I\u2019ve prob\u00ada\u00adbly put on an extra 10 pounds. But, as Wyatt Earp says in the Kevin Cost\u00adner movie (when he\u2019s come back to Dodge City to clean up the law\u00adless\u00adness), \u201cIT ALL ENDS NOW!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those of you from the 80s will get the ref\u00ader\u00adence.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As soon as I fin\u00adish this blog entry, I\u2019m going down\u00adstairs to my home gym and work out for two hours. Over the years, my wife has (some\u00adwhat envi\u00adous\u00adly) point\u00aded out to me that, once I start eat\u00ading right, drink\u00ading a lot of water, and exer\u00adcis\u00ading dai\u00adly, it only takes my body about two weeks to return to its toned, trim sta\u00adtus quo. I guess that\u2019s true, but I nev\u00ader noticed it until she start\u00aded point\u00ading it out. I think it comes from a life\u00adtime of being active; my body just knows<\/em> the drill by now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any\u00adway, this is what the sev\u00adenth year on the Big Book will look like: dai\u00adly writ\u00ading and rewrit\u00ading; dai\u00adly nutri\u00adtion and fit\u00adness; dai\u00adly sobri\u00adety and self-care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not a lot of dra\u00adma, to be sure. But as Flaubert once said, \u201cThe nov\u00adel\u00adist needs to be reg\u00adu\u00adlar and order\u00adly in his every\u00adday life so that he can be vio\u00adlent and orig\u00adi\u00adnal on the page.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And I\u2019m doing that, my friends. By keep\u00ading my every\u00adday life con\u00adsis\u00adtent and dra\u00adma-free, I\u2019ve been able to put near\u00adly all of my life force into my writ\u00ading. As a result, the Big Book is good<\/em>. I mean real\u00adly<\/em> good. Some\u00adtimes when I read sec\u00adtions of it over again, I can\u2019t believe I<\/em> wrote it; it\u2019s that good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But today until Tues\u00adday, no more Big Book. I\u2019m giv\u00ading myself a much-need\u00aded three-day vaca\u00adtion. A fit\u00adness and nutri\u00adtion vaca\u00adtion (and some Red Dead Redemp\u00adtion 2; thanks for the XBONE, Jay!), with some self-care stuff thrown in there\u2014maybe a mas\u00adsage and a hair\u00adcut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before I go, I\u2019d like to point out one last thing. If this blog entry wasn\u2019t as smooth-read\u00ading as oth\u00aders I\u2019ve writ\u00adten in the past, or if it ram\u00adbles or it con\u00adtains mis\u00adtakes that you usu\u00adal\u00adly don\u2019t see in my writ\u00ading, that\u2019s because I only wrote one draft<\/em> of it. (In the past, revis\u00ading blog entries three<\/em> times was not uncom\u00admon for me.) In oth\u00ader words, this is me let\u00adting go of this need for per\u00adfec\u00adtion in all things. Sor\u00adry, folks, but it\u2019s a f\u2011cking blog entry; I\u2019m not writ\u00ading mul\u00adti\u00adple drafts of these things any\u00admore; as you can see from every\u00adthing I\u2019ve writ\u00adten here, I\u2019ve got a LOT of oth\u00ader writ\u00ading to do, and I need to save my ener\u00adgy for the Big Book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, with that, it\u2019s time to go exer\u00adcise, and then, on Tues\u00adday, Feb\u00adru\u00adary 1, it\u2019s back to work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ll hear from me again when I fin\u00adish Episode 3, which has the apt work\u00ading sub\u00adti\u00adtle of Dan\u00adger Zone<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cov\u00ader of my note cards. Read\u00aders who write to me some\u00adtimes receive one of these in reply.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chris Orcutt enters the sev\u00adenth year of work on his epic nov\u00adel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":8833,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,19,6,337,77,7,61,76,88,68,10,13,14,233],"tags":[94,609,617,122,616,339,340,96,531,155,410,594,93,355,392],"class_list":["post-8823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-craft","category-fiction","category-interview","category-novel-writing","category-novels","category-personal","category-podcast","category-process","category-radio-interview","category-rewriting","category-technologyandinternet","category-writers","category-writingexperiences","category-writing-life","tag-chris-orcutt","tag-epic-novel","tag-flaubert","tag-hemingway","tag-magnum-opus","tag-novel-writing","tag-novel-writing-process","tag-novelist","tag-novelists-work-day","tag-orcutt","tag-rewriting","tag-tolstoy","tag-writing","tag-writing-life","tag-writing-process"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8823"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8823\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8837,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8823\/revisions\/8837"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}