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I'm all about the cursive and pads and pens and binders for about 90% of my work. It has a lot to do with portability and a sense of almost vomiting----the 1st draft (of 12) raw ideas out before refinement begins.
So draft 2 is typed and often the most confused as I have pieces tumbling in generally but not completely connected. There's also a level of editing and enhancements in the typing as I tweak for self clarity.
Draft 3 is general the 1st proof where I'm looking at the story, does it make not just sense but does it sound like the chorus the tale sings in my head. Rarely does it, I estimate after 20 plus years I can capture 50-70% of a tale's energy by now.
Draft 4 is the physical proof/printed copy with all my notes. Hundreds of post its generally color coded for plot, typo, grammar/research points.
Draft 5 is post it incorporated.
Draft 6 is general proof plus more pads/notebooks. I buy them by the gross. A typed 50 page pad is 25-30 pages so I'm also able to gauge book length. Which starts the business processes for calculating size, layout, price, etc.. I got started on page count to typed page in college reading Raymond Carver and so much of initial work was 300 pages typed . How to write a short story? 10 pad pages equals about 3-4 typed pages, 20 pad pages, 10 typed pages which was the assignment length, three times a class. The challenge became telling a full story in those parameters. It forced me to get to the heart of the matter, to economize dialogue, to deepen characterization and I could generally knock it out in one sitting. I did about 30 of those stories and they proved to be perfect for publications to publish around the country and eventually several short story collections.
At this halfway mark I could also zuzz up a novel. Generally a character is the lead but lacks back story and I've been waiting for them to tell me. They rarely relate themselves at a computer, that's for clarity, longhand is for depth.
Draft 7 is synthesis of new insights to old material.
Draft 8 is now tho mishmash beast and I start slashing chunks.
Draft 9 is decoration ----what kind of car, why that one, what kinds of clothing. I'm very light on constant descriptor as I find it is often evidence of weak writing, its like turning on the lights during sex. Its more interesting to hear the two people, even to have them describe it than to suddenly see the contortions. Unless its germane to the character or plot, I'm light on descriptors.
Draft 10 is trying to capture the right cover, I generally have three finalists and the book is its near final size so I can get a feel for it.
Draft 11 is tricky. I might redo the whom thing. One novel started out as a novella, twice. 75 pages then 125, finally being a third of the short story collection, professors and editors said it was a book and it was pulled as stories were published in a magazine.. Find the main protagonist and punch them up....but in order to do so other characters increase so it becomes a balancing act. Now it's 500 pages, my godmother calls it my opus. Then along comes Elmore Leonard ---drop he said, she said followed by a pithy adjective. More handwriting as marginalia and then another thirty pages handwritten as I realize if you don't have those "said" crutches you go deeper and there's a minimalist style there.
So now I'm editing draft 11.5.
Longhand first I would recommend its more intimate, less detached and then the typing feels like constant assembly, victory and finally marked accomplishment at varying production stages.
Typing feels like----okay where am I? What was the surge, feeling? And you can't just write above, behind, on top of when typing. You want clean eventually but first you want these big fragments to help structure the structure before you polish the structure.
Smile, Kyle
KylePhoenixShow@Gmail.com
KylePhoenixShow@Gmail.com
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