Write Things: On releasing the reins on your first draft

Greetings writers!

This week's idea was inspired by an interesting journey that one of my 1:1 clients took with her story. 

Idea: On the writing process

Have you ever been writing your story when, all of a sudden, your character does or says something unexpected? Do you roll with it or twist the story back to where you thought it was heading? 

In the build up to the climactic moment of her novel, my client inserted a series of scenes that greatly slowed the pace and were, essentially, devoid of any sort of suspense or tension - a technical no-no. 

With one small tweak, the entire plot of those scenes could be removed without changing her story. 

But this is the first draft of her novel. Which means neither of us know exactly how the story will unfold yet. Which means they may have shown up for a reason. 

So we dove into the those scenes to see what was there. 

In them, we found the lesson one of her major characters learned - and how to show that they've learned it. 

We found how the protagonist can overcome her inner conflict.

And we found how both of these discoveries will drive the tension of her final scene. 

Now, the final 1/3 of her story is packed with conflcit, tension, suspense, and, through her character's journies, her theme has emerged! 

All of this because she followed her creative intuition and let the story tell her where it was going.

Remember, explore anything and everything that comes up as you create a story, whether it is personal or fictional. Then, look at what you've written, find the story within it, and write your true first draft. 

Let your story exert itself. 

Inspiration: Quick Write Prompt - "What s/he fears"

Set a timer for 4 minutes and write something personal or fictional from the above prompt. 

You may choose to apply it to a story you're currently working on or create something new. 

I'd love to hear what you came up with! Type your quick write into a reply to this email (don't edit it!) or send it my way: [email protected] I'll respond if I receive it before next Thursday =)

Invitation: To play

Next time you sit down to write, attempt to follow your creative intuition. 

If it's a personal story, what details do you seem to be focused on? What feelings are coming up? What random comments, acts, or objects keep coming to mind?

If it's a fictional story, what do your characters seem to want to say? Do you see or feel that a new character might make an appearance? What details of the setting are vivid to you? Show them to your reader.

Part of being creative involves choosing to trust our intuition, to trust the process even when it doesn't appear to make logical sense. 

This is one way that new, original art appears in our world.

Happy creating everyone.

Sincerely, 

Trevor Martens

Founder, I Help You Write Things