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Exercise #297: Craft
Posted 1/02/09
We’ve had some MISC discussion about NaNoWriMo, which puts me in the mood for some first draft work. Ah, the first draft. The act of filling the page with ink or pixels, getting the words out, and not worrying (so much) about editing or being perfect.
Today’s exercise relies on your honor not to cheat. It’s hard to put a first draft out there for the world to see but I need you to go with me on this. When you get ready to write, stop a moment and think about what you’ve read here. Raise your right hand and state your vow out loud: “I promise to follow the exercise directions to the best of my ability and do my darnedest not to cheat.” Great!
Part One
Get a timer. (Don’t have one? Use the timer function on the microwave, have your spouse keep track of the second hand on their wristwatch, or use the online countdown timer here: http://www.online-stopwatch.com/.) Set the timer or tell your partner five minutes. Just five. No more, no less.
Ready?
Start the counter and write for your five minutes about this:
“She wants to be...”
When the timer dings, you’re done. Mid-paragraph, mid-word, mid-thought. Done. Stop. Remember, no cheating?
What you have in front of you is a rough draft. It may be crap. It may be crap with some nuggets of gold in it. It may be shining silver with just a few commas out of place. Whatever it is, it’s also a first draft.
Try to ignore the lost plot points nagging at you and the character sketch you can see in your mind. If they didn’t make it in within the time, there is no place for them in this exercise.
Part Two
Read what you’ve written. Think on it a bit. Then re-write it. Clean it up. Make it no longer a first draft, but something legible. Fix the typos, rearrange the commas, delete that section about your sister’s cat. Mold your first draft into something ... decent. That’s right, decent. It’s a second draft, and still may be crap.
Either way, post what you have, both versions. (Yes, both. No cheating!) Clearly mark version one and version two (or first draft/second draft) so your reader can see the difference.
“Extra credit” for posting a Part Three: what you learned from this exercise.
Critiquers, critique ONLY the version two/second draft/part two. If this was yours, would you continue with it?
Word limit: 1200 for part two only, no limit for parts one or three
Please use the subject line
SUB: Exercise #297/yourname
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