Guest Post from Scott Bartlett: The Writing Process for Royal Flush
August 21, 2012 by Lillie
The first draft of my humor novel Royal Flush
I wrote it for a contest. 18 days before the deadline, I decided to turn a series of short stories I’d been working on into a novel. I started writing, at a rate of 10-15 pages a day. I had no social life for the duration.
When I finally submitted it—after pulling an all-nighter and writing the final word at 6 AM the day of the deadline—I was incredibly satisfied. Well, actually, I was incredibly sleepy. I slept most of the day.
After I woke up, though, I was incredibly satisfied. “Awesome!” I said to myself. “One novel down! Done! Completed! On to the next one!”
But I didn’t move on to the next one—not that summer. I took a writing break. (I don’t recommend those, incidentally.) And when the contest was announced, Royal Flush got an honorable mention but did not place in the top three.
My great expectations were summarily deflated. When I received my manuscript back from the judges, I opened to the beginning, incredulous that my work hadn’t been lavished with praise and money (the top prize was $5,000). And then I spotted it: a grievous typo, right on the first page.
I experienced a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. How utterly unprofessional. I continued reading. There were at least three or four mistakes per page, of both the grammatical and the orthographical kind. Some of these completely changed the meaning of what I was trying to say—or to have the characters say.
There were also a lot of plot holes and contradictions. Characters that completely changed their views throughout the manuscript, without cause. Timelines that overlapped. Weeks with two Thursdays. That kind of thing
Gradually, it dawned on me that this book was far from “completed.” And, as I started editing and revising in earnest, I realized that most of my work was still ahead of me. In fact, having written three novels by now, I think it’s fair to say that at least 90% of the work awaits a writer after the first draft is complete.
As Ernest Hemingway so eloquently put it: “The first draft of anything is s**t.” (Note from Lillie: I like Lary Crews’s term, “pure green dreck.”)
The last thing you want is for your reader to get jerked out of the story’s flow because of a glaring mistake. But that’s what you risk by failing to edit properly.
I ended up going through ten drafts of Royal Flush. But don’t just read a manuscript over yourself—have multiple others read it as well. As a self-published author, I haven’t had the benefit of a professional editor to review my manuscript. However, over 100 people have read my early drafts—this includes friends, family, coworkers, and users of Authonomy.com. Whenever I give my writing to someone else to read, I always ask them to give me honest feedback, assuring them I can take it. Honest feedback is the only kind that’s of any use to me.
I generally don’t request that others read my work—I’ve been lucky enough that a lot of people have taken an interest in my writing over the years and have asked to see it themselves. But I do have three or four ‘first readers,’ who I feel comfortable asking to provide feedback on new work. The reason I feel comfortable is that I reciprocate—these are fellow writers, for the most part, and they know I’m always willing to review their work, as well. I’d recommend putting in the time to cultivate these sorts of relationships.
Even after all this effort to ensure your manuscript is thoroughly edited, chances are it will still contain a few mistakes. Every book is a work-in-progress—‘finished’ is just a word for when you’re able to let it go. But proper editing is about drastically reducing the probability that your reader will get yanked unceremoniously from the world of your story.
Scott Bartlett has been writing fiction since he was fifteen. His recently released novel, Royal Flush, is a recipient of the H. R. (Bill) Percy Prize.
Royal Flush is available in print and Kindle editions.
Hello, readers of A Writer’s Words, An Editor Eye! It’s a pleasure to be here. If you have any questions, or if you’d just like to chat, I’d be more than happy to.
Also, thank you very much to Lillie for having me on the blog.
I’m delighted to host your guest post, Scott. Your experience is typical of most beginning writers (well, maybe, not finishing the first draft in 18 days, but thinking the first draft is the end). I’m sure many of my readers will benefit from your words.
Wow, 18 days! 10-15 pages a day! That sounds truly exhausting. It always amazes me how many times I can read my writing and still miss things. I think it helps to have others read it, but even sometimes that doesn’t cut it.
Victoria,
I agree that Scott did an amazing feat to write the first draft in 18 days. Then came the real work.
Naturally, as a professional editor, I recommend everyone have their manuscript professionally edited. But Scott has a good alternative exchanging with other writers.
Thank you, Lillie! I did worry before releasing the book that it hadn’t had the attention of a professional editor, but then, I also worried that I would disagree so profoundly with a professional editor’s feedback that I wouldn’t get anything from the experience. So just decided to release it.
It was exhausting! I almost gave up, two or three times. But I thought about how discouraged I would feel, not having submitted a novel when the deadline flew by, and I ploughed through.
I am impressed that you were able to write quickly..until you mentioned the typographical errors and grammatical mistakes you made. Still, I salute you for sharing your true story. A lesson that we can all learn from.
Jane,
Other than the extremely fast writing, most writers make a similar mistake in believing their first draft equals a completed manuscript. It’s not just typos and grammar errors, most first drafts have problems with plot, characterization, and continuity.
Lillie’s right–no first draft is perfect. For that matter, no tenth draft is perfect. Though your comment does bring to mind the way Kurt Vonnegut apparently used to write, which was to rewrite a page over and over until he was satisfied with it, and then to never revisit it again. So basically he went through multiple drafts of a single page before moving on to the next.
I can hardly write 3-4 pages a day. I marvel at your skill!
Alex,
I believe Scott had a bit of a head start because he based his book on some short stories he had already written. Still his speed is amazing.
I agree with you Lillie. Like most of you here, I am really amazed how fast Scott was able to finish the book.
Remy,
Maybe we need to ask Scott for a recommendation of an energy drink or protein bar or some magic elixir of his own concoction.
Haha, thank you. But this was a pretty special case for me–I rarely write anywhere near 10 pages a day. That’s okay, though. Cory Doctorow, for instance, only writes 1 page a day, which takes him around 20 minutes. And if you do the math, that will get you at least a 300-page novel every year.
Like many here, what I find so amazing is how fast Scott can write. I assume that Scott uses some kind of technology/dictation to “write”.
For me the greatest difficulty in writing is that my hands cannot keep up with my train of thought. In my own mind I get these great ideas, these moments of inspiration, only to lose the momentum due to my speed of writing/typing.
But having a collection of shorter stories in the first place is a great help. It is the flow and linking of these that would appear to be the greatest struggle.
Bravo!
chloe,
I expect Scott will be back to check comments and can tell us whether he has a voice program or not.
You’re right that continuity and flow would be the challenge to compile short stories into a novel.
To tell you the truth, I was amazed myself that I was able to write so quickly. Royal Flush has been one of the easiest things I’ve written. I’ve had to struggle with most of my other pieces.
As you say, basing it on the short stories definitely helped. As well, knowing how much I had to write each day with the deadline approaching kept me motivated. Plus I just had so much fun writing this book. The ideas seemed to pop into my head at just the moment I needed them.
[...] http://lillieammann.com/2012/08/21/guest-post-from-scott-bartlett-the-writing-process-for-royal-flus… [...]
Inspiration story especially for those eager young writers.
Jane,
Yes, it’s both inspirational and informational.
Thank you, Jane! I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Thanks Scott for sharing this very inspirational story. Many writers and bloggers do not give so much attention in editing and revising their piece or post. As a result, the readers fail to receive that real message the writer intend to impart.
I have to confess, I definitely don’t give the same attention to blog posts. I read it over a couple times for typos and grammatical/factual errors, but after that I hit ‘post’. I tend to view blogging as a break from fiction writing, which I feel more pressure to get right.
Thank you for reading and commenting! I’m glad you enjoyed the post.
Nina,
Blogs generally don’t require the same degree of editing and rewriting as a novel. However, they should be edited enough that they are readable and easy to understand.
Sorry I haven’t replied to you until now, everyone! I feel quite foolish, having invited you all to chat and now posting such belated responses. I hope you’re all able to check back and see them.
Scott,
We’re glad you get here to respond! Many commenters subscribe to comments when they comment so they are notified when a response is posted.
To write on a rush? how was that? But you did great, mistakes may be committed but it could be lessen. Of course, you will let people read it and know about their feedback, what is important that you have accepted those and take it positively and make it useful to yourself. Thanks for inspiring those people who loves or who starts writing industry. Thanks!
Elaine,
Sorry for the delay in responding. Somehow I overlooked your comment when you left it.
As Scott said, he did a lot of revision and editing after the fast first draft.
Print and Kindle… not on ebook for iOS?
Penny,
I have to plead ignorance. I don’t know what IOS is.