Fast Drafting: The New Process

Some might say that what I call order is the rearranging of deck chairs on the USS Total Chaos. One man’s madness is, well, madness. Anyway, as a reminder: I have dreamt up a better way for me to write my rough drafts, which I’m calling “fast drafting” because I like giving things names. (I also love creating systems.)

I’d like to clarify one point. This new system of my devising cannot replace that most important and universal requirement of writing any significant work: Butt-in-Chair. You cannot escape this requirement with any system.

Before getting into the details, I offer this excerpt from Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond:

The whole of this four hours of daily work is devoted to writing narrative.

I never correct anything and I never go back to what I have written, except to the foot of the last page to see where I have got to. If you once look back, you are lost. How could you have written this drivel? How could you have used “terrible” six times on one page? And so forth. If you interrupt the writing of fast narrative with too much introspection and self-criticism, you will be lucky if you write 500 words a day and you will be disgusted with them into the bargain. By following my formula, you write 2,000 words a day and you aren’t disgusted with them until the book is finished, which will be in about six weeks.

I don’t even pause from writing to choose the right word or to verify spelling or a fact. All this can be done when your book is finished.

This is basically what I’m talking about when I describe my needs and problems, except I lack Mr Fleming’s discipline. And I am certain that I write a far messier draft than he ever did. I’m just not a clean writer. Not my strength. Also, let’s be honest. Fleming didn’t have the temptation we modern writers have with the backspace key, saving multiple drafts files, and so forth.

But yeah, if the system doesn’t work, I’m back to the discipline method. And some discipline will probably still be required.

So, what are my requirements for fast drafting?

• To efficiently capture the basics without wasted words. No fluff!
• Speed! Speed! More speed!
• Minimize rewriting on the second draft. I prefer to add good writing rather than subtracting then adding.
• To see the rough draft as raw story and not shitty, discouraging writing.

An additional benefit to this system is that I can quickly scan through the dialogue and actions to be sure that what I’m writing is logical. Why work my ass off on a piece of dialogue only to discover the character should not have said that? Maybe not necessary for you, oh gentle and more logical reader, but for me…

I have a tendency to get so caught up in the language that I sort of forget about logic and consistency. And sometimes I will bend the universe to preserve what I’ve already written.

The ability to scan material quickly would lead to even more writing speed. Also, when I go back to do the second, fill-in draft I can scan for logic and story problems and see the flow of the story without having to dig all that out of the muck that I used to write.

So you feel teased by now, and you say: “Get on with it, man! Let’s see your latest and perhaps greatest crazy scheme.”

So I present to you my new fast draft process which was inspired by screenplays, comic scripts, and the like. But without the crazy formatting those media need. It is essentially my own method. Other formatting could work. I went with what I find most comfortable because it is, after all, just for me. (Some years ago, I wrote a half-dozen or so unpublished comic book scripts.)

First, I will present an example. Then I shall explain the rules.

TOMAS STRIKES OUT
– Badlands east of Forbidden
– Tomas, Lidia

Scrubland stained red by a sun setting into wispy clouds.
No one within sight.
Impossibly dry. Wind kicking up dust. Hot as balls.

Tomas kicks the dirt off his boots and climbs into the saddle.
Whips his head east and west looking for his enemies. Finds none.
Flicks the reins and heads off to the north.

Tomas
“We’ll be there in three days.”

Lidia
“Four. At least.”

He imagines Lidia’s mocking smile.
He kicks the horse’s flanks. The beast gallops.

Tomas shouts
“By God, I’ll make it in two now.”

You will note what I wrote is in present tense. I find it difficult to write summary material in the traditional story past tense. Honestly, I think I write better, more immediate prose in present tense anyway. I tend to use a far more active voice, better verbs, punchier nouns. Not sure about the reason for this. Note, I have not completed any stories in present tense.

If I plan on saving writing time, though, I must learn to write these in whatever tense I plan to use for the story.

Keep in mind that I’m working from a plot framework. What I’m doing here, in a way, is an extensive framework for the entire story, as with a comic script for instance. But instead of taking this script and telling the story with art, I will go back and complete the story with polished prose.

So, what are the rules for what you just saw?

• Scene Tag/Name in ALL CAPS
• Location: if it is new or has changed. Otherwise, set the scene as it begins. Details may be filtered throughout the scene and not just lumped into the start.
• No unnecessary or involved descriptions at this stage.
• List characters present.
• Describe a character succinctly when they appear.

• Use single spacing for each character or setting segment.
• Block paragraph spacing between segments.

• For each character segment: Feeling, action, and dialogue each get a unique line
• Actions are done in bursts with each sequence of action getting its own line.
• Dialogue written out with quotes as normal but no attributions or interrupting “beat” actions such as: “Write some dialogue now.” Lidia picked up the knife. “Or else.”

• Don’t waste time finding the perfect words or images.
• Write briefly with evocative nouns, evocative verbs.
• Tight, focused writing.

• Don’t choose these rules over a piece of inspired, perfect prose that jumps out of the aether. Embrace the moment and keep moving. The rules can be broken as needed.
• Zen.

Titanic Deck Chairs

A future post will give a more extensive example. And if requests are made or confusion ensues, I will attempt to clarify and extrapolate on the rules I’m using in case all that only made sense to me. I am excited about this process and I will keep you all updated on how it goes. Whether I succeed, whether I fail. Should be fun!