Draft the Second

At the beginning of July I started working on the second draft of the novel. It had been sitting for a month since I finished it at the end of May, and I was at loose ends all of June, not having anything to work on. I had gotten used to writing nearly every day and not having that driving force, I felt pretty useless.

It took a lot of courage to read the first draft. I could only do a half-hour at a time. There wasn't as much good writing as I remembered. The whole thing was choppy and half-sketched, and the last quarter trailed off into nothing. Please congratulate me: I had completed a shitty first draft.

I had no clue how to proceed on cleaning it up. No, that's not true. I told myself I had no clue, and then I came up with all kinds of ideas. I knew I would go through the whole thing chronologically, since I had written it out of order, and clean up the consistency issues and tidy up the plot. I knew that I would not be rewriting, only reorganizing and adding missing material.

My original projection was to complete the second draft by the end of September. After a week of work, I moved that up to the beginning of September, seeing that I was moving along faster than I thought. As of yesterday, the new deadline is August 14. I decided I need to finish this book as soon as possible, hopefully by October. I'm finding new energy in this goal--I can work on the manuscript longer, up to four hours a day, maybe more.

Margaret Atwood writes, "As a rule I start out writing slowly, feeling my way into the cave, if you like. Then I gather speed and increase the hours until by the end I'm writing for eight hours a day and can barely walk without bending over, and can no longer see straight." I suppose this is what I'm doing. I started out at the beginning of the year doing a half-hour a day. Then I moved up to an hour in May, and two hours in July. I'm hoping I can sustain four hours through October--eight seems like a stretch, especially if I'm working another job. :-) But the end is definitely in sight.

A year ago, a completed manuscript seemed like a pipe dream. Now it's in my grasp. I'm elated.

Ben Lee in Ottawa

I've written about Ben Lee here before (Dharma and Ben and Me ), so you'll know why I'm so excited to be seeing him in Ottawa! Let me know if you're going too.

BEN LEE with guests THE SUITS XL

Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Barrymore’s Music Hall

Awake Is The New Sleep is Ben Lee’s definitive album to date. It reunites him with producer Brad Wood (Liz Phair, Smashing Pumpkins) and was recorded in Brad’s home studio in Los Angeles. Ben Lee was born 26 years ago in Sydney, Australia. His mum remembers him spending most of his childhood sitting on the floor with a turntable playing Rumours (Fleetwood Mac) and Avalon (Roxy Music) over and over. Ben’s musical coming our was at the age of 14 with a poppy, punk rock band called Noise Addict, circa 1993. Discovered by heavy hipsters Sonic Youth and The Beastie Boys the group’s profile rose quickly and has not slowed down since.

Tickets: $15.00 (plus applicable charges)
On sale Friday, July 7th @ noon
Available at all Ticketmaster outlets, The Ottawa Folklore Centre, End Hits and Barrymore’s box office or call (613) 755-1111 to charge. Order online at www.ticketmaster.ca
Doors: 8PM
Licensed 19+ show