Ready, Set, Rough Draft

Today is more about the beginning of the process than anything else. I wrote a whole post about the big picture, but let’s get into the nitty-gritty of this particular book I’m writing. I still don’t have a title so maybe once you’ve read this, you can help me think of one.

Where did I start with this book? Well, it actually started about a year ago. I visited my uncle for two weeks and spent a lot of time picking his brain about the past and recording his answers.

It wasn’t a very linear process. I hadn’t sat down and prepared a list of questions, although it probably would have made my life easier. And we didn’t do this in one marathon session. For one thing, talking was pretty hard for him at the time. We were also busy doing other things. And we both got easily distracted.

I also discovered memory is a tricky thing. I already knew that and experienced that, especially with my dad and grandmother, but I never realized it would be so difficult for my uncle to remember things like his first meeting with my aunt and the details of their relationship. In all fairness, that was the mid-70s and almost fifty years ago!

But I did get a lot of information and was able to form some vague ideas about different scenes I could write. I also had to think hard about what to include. This was a thirty-something year long relationship and, while I knew I wanted to focus on the beginning of it, knowing when to cut it off was the hard part.

My own life got pretty overwhelmed with busyness after I got home, so I didn’t really give the book another thought for a long time. I knew I still wanted to do it, but it was a vague, someday kind of thing.

Then I suddenly had a timeframe. I knew I would be able to write it during January through March of this year. I had to figure out all the research, know all details, get down structure, a scene list, focus on characterization, and have an outline.

And that’s what I’ve been doing. Trying to figure out if you could ride with paramedics in the ambulance in the 70s, what was the exact layout of my aunt’s house growing up, what were the beaches they visited like, what kind of music was popular, did she wear contacts or not? and so many other details that make up a rich world. Details that I hadn’t thought to ask until I started building up character and synopsis outlines. My poor mother and uncle answer new questions for me almost daily.

But last week I began actually writing words. I have a scene list outline so all I have to do is write two scenes per day and I’ll be finished with a rough draft by the time March is done.

Current word count: 18,271. Total scenes written: 15. Chapters completed: 3.

There is so much to still do and so many details I still need to know. So many things that would help me create a better world and better characters and a better relationship. But I can start putting meat on the bones. And that’s half the battle. Right now, I focus on putting words on the page. Editing comes later.

Sneak peek of the scene list and my process!

Do you have questions? Is there anything else you’d like to know about this book in particular? I’ll keep up with detailing the journey over the next few months, but I’d love to address the kinds of things it would interest the reader to know on the behind-the-scenes adventure we’re on!

And if you were titling a book about a fight for true love in Southern California in the 1970s, what would you call it?