{"id":9060,"date":"2024-05-27T00:51:58","date_gmt":"2024-05-27T00:51:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/?p=9060"},"modified":"2024-05-27T18:06:54","modified_gmt":"2024-05-27T18:06:54","slug":"another-draft-bites-the-dust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/another-draft-bites-the-dust\/","title":{"rendered":"Another Draft Bites the Dust"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A month ago, I fin\u00adished the third draft of what I\u2019m call\u00ading my \u201cteen epic.\u201d Between Decem\u00adber 2023 and the end of April 2024, I cut 175,817 words (or 11.4%) from the 1.5 mil\u00adlion-word man\u00adu\u00adscript, trim\u00adming it down to 1,365,148 words. The epic nov\u00adel is now actu\u00adal\u00adly 10 nov\u00adels, and my aim is to cut the gar\u00adgan\u00adtu\u00adan series by anoth\u00ader 10 to 15% dur\u00ading the fourth draft, which I\u2019ll start on Tues\u00adday after Memo\u00adr\u00adi\u00adal Day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of this talk about num\u00adbers might make it seem like I\u2019ve been doing noth\u00ading but cut\u00adting words, but I assure you there\u2019s a lot more to it than that. I\u2019m pleased with the fin\u00adished third draft because over the past six months I real\u00adly refined the sto\u00adry and accen\u00adtu\u00adat\u00aded the sto\u00adry\u00adlines that I want to be a part of the fin\u00adished book and cut a lot of extra\u00adne\u00adous mate\u00adr\u00adi\u00adal that does\u00adn\u2019t dri\u00adve the sto\u00adry for\u00adward to the con\u00adclu\u00adsion I\u2019ve envi\u00adsioned for nine years now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Part of my process over the past six months has been hav\u00ading the \u201ccom\u00adput\u00ader lady\u201d read the man\u00adu\u00adscript to me from my tablet. I\u2019ve lis\u00adtened to my book for hun\u00addreds of hours while dri\u00adving, work\u00ading out, walk\u00ading out\u00addoors, etc.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s anoth\u00ader thing: it struck me recent\u00adly that I first start\u00aded this series nine years ago, in the sum\u00admer of 2015, when I made some ini\u00adtial notes on what I envi\u00adsioned as a straight\u00adfor\u00adward nov\u00adel about teen expe\u00adri\u00adence in the 1980s. What start\u00aded in the first draft as a par\u00adtial\u00adly auto\u00adbi\u00ado\u00adgraph\u00adi\u00adcal sto\u00adry has since devel\u00adoped into a 10-vol\u00adume \u201cteen epic\u201d about a group of fic\u00adtion\u00adal teens in the years 1985\u201387.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recent\u00adly I did all of my \u201980s fact-check\u00ading for the fourth draft, and in addi\u00adtion to cor\u00adrect\u00ading mat\u00adters of fact in the next draft I\u2019ll be shap\u00ading the ele\u00adphan\u00adtine man\u00adu\u00adscript (now 4000 let\u00adter-sized pages) into 10 dis\u00adtinct nov\u00adels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The author as his alter-ego, edi\u00adtor Max Perky (with apolo\u00adgies to his edi\u00adtor idol, the great genius Max Perkins).<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Nov\u00adel-writ\u00ading is about drafts. Most read\u00aders know noth\u00ading about how nov\u00adels are actu\u00adal\u00adly put togeth\u00ader and there\u00adfore think that the nov\u00adel\u00adist sim\u00adply sits down and types out a sto\u00adry that\u2019s in his head, and the result is print\u00aded and bound and sold in book\u00adstores. If only it were that easy. The real\u00adi\u00adty is that writ\u00ading a nov\u00adel is a con\u00adstant flux of build\u00ading up and tear\u00ading down. You might spend weeks or months writ\u00ading a sec\u00adtion of a nov\u00adel only to dis\u00adcov\u00ader lat\u00ader on that the sec\u00adtion is mere\u00adly scroll\u00adwork or a pre\u00adam\u00adble to the real sto\u00adry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You then spend days, weeks or months cut\u00adting the parts that don\u2019t fit and writ\u00ading new mate\u00adr\u00adi\u00adal that improves on the pre\u00advi\u00adous draft or goes in a new direc\u00adtion alto\u00adgeth\u00ader. The point is, while the read\u00ader gets to expe\u00adri\u00adence the fin\u00adished, pol\u00adished prod\u00aduct (with\u00adout the stops and starts of con\u00adstruc\u00adtion), as the builder, the nov\u00adel\u00adist has to keep build\u00ading and tear\u00ading down while con\u00adstant\u00adly revis\u00ading and refin\u00ading (and com\u00adpro\u00admis\u00ading on) his vision for the fin\u00adished prod\u00aduct.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The author tak\u00ading a short break with his best friend, Dashiell Ham\u00admett. Pho\u00adto by the author\u2019s oth\u00ader best friend, Jason Scott.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The process reminds me a lit\u00adtle bit of Thomas Jefferson\u2019s home, Mon\u00adti\u00adcel\u00adlo, in Char\u00adlottesville, Vir\u00adginia. Today when vis\u00adi\u00adtors to Mon\u00adti\u00adcel\u00adlo see the house and sur\u00adround\u00ading plan\u00adta\u00adtion, they\u2019re see\u00ading the fin\u00adished prod\u00aduct: a beau\u00adti\u00adful Neo\u00adclas\u00adsi\u00adcal (style) man\u00adsion with Jefferson\u2019s \u201cgad\u00adgety\u201d archi\u00adtec\u00adtur\u00adal touch\u00ades (like the dumb\u00adwait\u00ader that brought food upstairs from the kitchens to the din\u00ading room).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What vis\u00adi\u00adtors don\u2019t see is the half dozen iter\u00ada\u00adtions that the main house went through. In fact, if you read a biog\u00adra\u00adphy of Jef\u00adfer\u00adson about his archi\u00adtec\u00adtur\u00adal ambi\u00adtions, you\u2019ll see that his orig\u00adi\u00adnal vision for the man\u00adsion bears no resem\u00adblance what\u00adso\u00adev\u00ader to the fin\u00adished one, the one we see today. It took Jef\u00adfer\u00adson mul\u00adti\u00adple \u201cdrafts\u201d until he final\u00adly fig\u00adured out his ulti\u00admate vision for the place, and, sad\u00adly (for him and his slaves that built it), Mon\u00adti\u00adcel\u00adlo wasn\u2019t com\u00adplet\u00aded in his life\u00adtime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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While I edit\u00aded the third draft, my wife bought, paint\u00aded and assem\u00adbled these shelves for 15 of my 20 type\u00adwrit\u00aders.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

When I\u2019m in the mid\u00addle of a draft, I don\u2019t do much read\u00ading of oth\u00ader writ\u00aders; I usu\u00adal\u00adly don\u2019t have time. Dur\u00ading the third draft, for exam\u00adple, in order to cut 175,817 words from the sec\u00adond draft in 152 days (an aver\u00adage of 1,157 words cut per day), I had to work between 10 and 14 hours per day every day. The point is, I bare\u00adly have enough time to read and revise my own work, so I\u2019m not able to do any plea\u00adsure read\u00ading dur\u00ading a draft, and instead have to cram in all my read\u00ading between drafts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dur\u00ading this most recent break, I\u2019ve reread a num\u00adber of books includ\u00ading John Irving\u2019s The World Accord\u00ading to Garp<\/em>, Stephen Ambrose\u2019s Undaunt\u00aded Courage<\/em> (about the expe\u00addi\u00adtion of Lewis and Clark), F. Scott Fitzgerald\u2019s The Great Gats\u00adby<\/em>, and John Steinbeck\u2019s Trav\u00adels with Charley<\/em>. The aim is always to read (or reread) work that is dif\u00adfer\u00adent from what I\u2019ve been immersed in for the pre\u00advi\u00adous months so I can for\u00adget my own writ\u00ading. I need to for\u00adget my own work so when I return to it, it will be fresh, and the bad stuff will stick out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Edit\u00ading on the back porch with Mr. Ham\u00admett. Note the read\u00ading glass\u00ades, red pen and ubiq\u00adui\u00adtous cup of cof\u00adfee.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Dur\u00ading this break, I\u2019ve also refilled the well by watch\u00ading the entire TV series, Colum\u00adbo<\/em>. What a mag\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcent mys\u00adtery series, and what a great char\u00adac\u00adter Peter Falk cre\u00adat\u00aded! As a long\u00adtime afi\u00adciona\u00addo of Sher\u00adlock Holmes, I can state with author\u00adi\u00adty that Detec\u00adtive Lieu\u00adtenant Colum\u00adbo (we nev\u00ader learn his first name) is the sec\u00adond-best fic\u00adtion\u00adal detec\u00adtive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What start\u00aded out as a brief, clear report on my progress on the third draft has mean\u00addered into irrel\u00ade\u00advant ter\u00adri\u00adto\u00adry. What was it that I orig\u00adi\u00adnal\u00adly want\u00aded to say?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I guess the impe\u00adtus for me writ\u00ading this blog\/journal entry in the first place was to doc\u00adu\u00adment the feel\u00adings of doubt dur\u00ading the third draft, and the ques\u00adtions I\u2019ve had about my own san\u00adi\u00adty. I can\u2019t tell you, for exam\u00adple, how many days I\u2019ve wok\u00aden up and won\u00addered if I was crazy to con\u00adtin\u00adue work\u00ading on a 10-nov\u00adel \u201cteen epic\u201d that takes place in the mid 1980s. Almost dai\u00adly at the break\u00adfast table, I\u2019ve moaned to my wife and muse, \u201cWho the hell is going to want to read this stuff?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA lot of peo\u00adple,\u201d she replies. \u201cThere are mil\u00adlions of peo\u00adple our age and old\u00ader who want to go back to a sim\u00adpler time, before social media and the inter\u00adnet, before all of these wars and mass shoot\u00adings and polit\u00adi\u00adcal unrest. There\u2019s a read\u00ader\u00adship out there that is starv\u00ading for nos\u00adtal\u00adgia, to be tak\u00aden back to when they had very few respon\u00adsi\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adties, and the world just made sense. You\u2019re going to be giv\u00ading read\u00aders a time machine back to the 1980s, and at ten dol\u00adlars per nov\u00adel it\u2019s going to be the cheap\u00adest time machine they\u2019ll ever find. You have to keep going, Chris. Your books are going to scratch an itch they didn\u2019t even know they had.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Hud\u00adson Riv\u00ader near its head\u00adwa\u00adters in the Adiron\u00addacks. Two of the 9\u201310 episodes of my teen epic take place in Adiron\u00addack Park.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

She\u2019s right of course. So, on Tues\u00adday, May 28\u2014the day after Memo\u00adr\u00adi\u00adal Day\u2014my sub\u00adma\u00adrine, the U.S.S. Boda\u00adcious, will sub\u00admerge again for 218 days\u2014until end of busi\u00adness on Decem\u00adber 31. That is the amount of time I\u2019m giv\u00ading myself to fin\u00adish the fourth draft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have sev\u00ader\u00adal aims for the fourth draft. The prime direc\u00adtive is to shape each of the 10 episodes into a nov\u00adel that can stand on its own, with its own plot and char\u00adac\u00adter arcs, cli\u00admax and denoue\u00adment. The sec\u00adond goal for the fourth draft is to cut away irrel\u00ade\u00advant char\u00adac\u00adters and material\u2014any stuff that leads away from what the series is ulti\u00admate\u00adly about. Third, I need to refine the nov\u00adel and chap\u00adter open\u00adings. Fourth, I need to more skill\u00adful\u00adly weave in men\u00adtions of cur\u00adrent events and make cor\u00adrec\u00adtions to mat\u00adters of fact. And final\u00adly, this is the draft in which I want to make the lan\u00adguage real\u00adly sing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/figure>
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My wife\u2019s birth\u00adday gift to me: a JBL boom\u00adbox so I can lis\u00adten to the \u201980s sound\u00adtrack of the series while I\u2019m writ\u00ading, edit\u00ading, work\u00ading out or even show\u00ader\u00ading.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

While I\u2019m sub\u00admerged, I\u2019ll see a hand\u00adful of peo\u00adple very sel\u00addom, I\u2019ll go on a cou\u00adple work\u00ading vaca\u00adtions (mean\u00ading I trav\u00adel some\u00adplace, like to a cab\u00adin on a lake in the Adiron\u00addacks, and keep work\u00ading), and I won\u2019t watch or lis\u00adten to any<\/em> news about what\u2019s going on in the world. Because this is a Pres\u00adi\u00adden\u00adtial elec\u00adtion year, invari\u00adably there will be a lot of social unrest, protests, riots, etc., but to com\u00adplete my epic series, I have to block all of that out and focus exclu\u00adsive\u00adly on the events, music, TV, movies, and cul\u00adture of 1985\u20131987.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ll hear from me again in Jan\u00adu\u00adary 2025, when I resur\u00adface briefly before the fifth and final draft. I\u2019m set\u00adting a pub\u00adli\u00adca\u00adtion date of Jan\u00adu\u00adary 2026, which means that pre-orders for the epic series will start in Novem\u00adber of next year, and I\u2019ll actu\u00adal\u00adly be start\u00ading advance pub\u00adlic\u00adi\u00adty for the series this win\u00adter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mr. Dashiell Ham\u00admett (a.k.a., \u201cDash\u201d) mug\u00adging for the cam\u00adera at a cafe table at our favorite restau\u00adrant, Momi\u00adji hibachi in Rhinebeck, NY.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As you can see by this clear\u00adly 100% real pho\u00adto (AI had noth\u00ading to do with it), I also took a cou\u00adple weeks off ear\u00adli\u00ader this month to vis\u00adit the Himalaya and climb Mount Ever\u00adest (with apolo\u00adgies to Sir Edmund Hillary and Tens\u00ading Nor\u00adgay).<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

A month ago, I fin\u00adished the third draft of what I\u2019m call\u00ading my \u201cteen epic.\u201d Between Decem\u00adber 2023 and the end of April 2024, I\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":9049,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,3,4,19,337,77,7,76,177,68,10,13,14,233],"tags":[646,637,638,94,138,130,609,131,96,95,155,409,636,647,221,92,93,355],"class_list":["post-9060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chris-orcutt-books","category-craft","category-favebooks","category-fiction","category-novel-writing","category-novels","category-personal","category-process","category-research","category-rewriting","category-technologyandinternet","category-writers","category-writingexperiences","category-writing-life","tag-btta","tag-1980s","tag-80s","tag-chris-orcutt","tag-drafts","tag-editing","tag-epic-novel","tag-fiction-2","tag-novelist","tag-novels-2","tag-orcutt","tag-revision","tag-teens","tag-the-drawer-method","tag-writers-life","tag-writers-2","tag-writing","tag-writing-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9060","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=9060"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9060\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9077,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9060\/revisions\/9077"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}