*opens case, takes out violin*

[rj_anderson]

You know what's really, really nice? Thinking to yourself that this week your goal will be to finish Chapter Four of your WiP, and then when you open up your working document and write the last couple of lines of the scene you'd left unfinished the previous week, you look at your page count and realize that... hey, I just finished Chapter Four!

So this week my goal is to make good progress into Chapter Five, instead.

Anyway, I said yesterday that I was going to talk about my attitude to writing, which I described as "literary busker". As you'll know if you followed the link from last night's post, I see myself as standing on an imaginary street corner, strumming (or in this case, typing) away in the hope that somebody, somewhere, will like what I'm doing and toss me a few coins of feedback.

Of course, now that I'm working on original fiction, I naturally look forward to receiving a few coins of the literal sort as well. But I didn't get into writing for the money (nobody in their right mind does), and dreaming about advances and royalties isn't what motivates me to keep writing, either.

No, it's all about the readership -- which is what has led me to the realization of what I'm finding most difficult about profic after several years of fandom. It's not the challenge of creating my own worlds and characters, because I'd already written two original novels before I got seriously involved with fanfic.

It's the lack of an immediate audience.

Let me explain what I mean by this. My first book was written without any audience except myself, and it showed. I was telling myself the story chapter by chapter, with little or no thought given to anyone else, and the result was a terrible novel. Still, I figured that the problem was the concept, or the characters, or the fact that I was a mere nineteen when I wrote it -- all of which were undoubtedly factors in the equation, but not the whole story.

When I started writing Knife, however, I was sharing a house (and a computer) with several other students. They were curious about what I was working on night after night, and when I explained that I was writing a fantasy novel one of them asked if he could see what I'd written so far. I was flattered by his interest (yeah, okay, he was cute), so I let him read the first couple of chapters -- and soon he was back with a friend in tow, wanting to know what happened next. Then one of my female housemates said she'd like to read it too -- so I ended up with an audience of three, all reading my chapters as fast as I could write them and demanding more.

Not only was this a great encouragement to me to keep working on Knife even when I felt tempted to slack off, it provided me with ongoing assurance that I was telling a story other people wanted to read. It forced me to think not only of how to tell the story to myself, but how best to communicate it to people with different interests and personalities. I had to keep asking myself whether what I was writing would make sense to my fellow students, and whether it would hold their attention. And they were quick to let me know when it didn't; at least once I discovered that a particular scene or chapter wasn't working for them, which me to go back and rework that section before moving on to the next.

In short, I did what many knowledgeable and experienced authors say not to do (and not without reason, either) -- I let a bunch of amateurs loose on the first draft of my book as it was being written. If I'd been of a different creative mindset, or had less encouraging critiquers, this could have been a disaster. But in my case it not only led to me completing the novel (including revisions) in six months, but I had great fun doing it. I was excited and curious about the feedback I would get on what I'd just written, and that kept me working at a steady pace. It even helped to counterbalance my sometimes-crippling perfectionism -- I couldn't spend day after day fiddling with the same bit of prose, because my readers would want to know why I hadn't finished the chapter. And their reactions reminded me that in the end, the story and the characters mattered more than any number of painstakingly constructed and polished sentences.

My experience in fandom -- where I went through a similar process of writing a chapter every week or so, sending it to my beta-readers for comment, and making revisions accordingly before starting on the next chapter -- served to cement my feelings about the value of feedback to my personal creative process. I am a storyteller, and a storyteller needs an audience. I want to know that someone is listening to the tale I want to tell, and that they're interested in hearing more about that world and those characters even if the story isn't perfect. I want to see their reactions, good and bad and indifferent, so I have an idea whether the direction I'm going is a good one or whether I should stop and retrace my steps. Of course, I know that the story is ultimately mine and not theirs, and that not all of my readers are going to like everything I write. But if there seems to be widespread agreement that a certain element or character either works or doesn't -- yes, that is going to affect me, and it should.

I am not recommending this approach generally, mind, because it only works if you are, like me, an inveterate polish-as-you-go writer. I'm not embarrassed to show my first drafts to people because by the time I'm finished a chapter it's as good as I know how to make that part of the story at that particular time -- plot, prose, characterization, everything. (Of course it can and will be improved by further revision, but my point is that it isn't messy or incoherent or missing large chunks of information, as typical first drafts tend to be.)

Also, this method depends on regular communication with people whose literary judgment you respect, who not only like your writing in general but are interested in the particular story and characters you want them to critique. If you try to hang on to an otherwise good critiquer who just doesn't happen to like this particular project, nothing good can come of it. It's very hard for someone in that position to know the difference between "this is a seriously flawed book which needs major changes to be readable" and "this is just not the type of book I enjoy," and so their criticisms are unlikely to do anything but frustrate everyone involved. (C.S. Lewis refused to critique mystery novels, even those written by his dear friend Dorothy L. Sayers, for this very reason.)

In my case, however, I write coherent first drafts, and I also know a fair number of insightful folk whom I can trust to tell me if a story is really working, or not working, or just Not Their Kind of Thing. So I'm thinking that perhaps I should put out an APB and see if I can enlist a small but dedicated audience (say, three to five people) who would be interested in reading Touching Indigo chapter by chapter as it's written, and letting me know what they think.

This wouldn't have to be a major commitment, either. All it would take is being willing to read the chapter more or less promptly when it arrives, and say something about it afterward. The response could be anything from an in-depth critique with suggestions for improvement to a simple "I'm hooked! Write more!", depending on the reader's inclinations and ability, but I would like to know that when I send out a chapter I can count on some kind of answer within the next few days, and that the people reading it are genuinely interested in the story and not disappointed that I'm not writing something completely different.

Any takers? ETA: I has peeps! Thanks to my new band of brave and possibly foolhardy volunteers.

Comments

[lydaclunas.livejournal.com]

Speaking of betas, I though you were sending me some chapters a while back (before vacation, and before all the personal life stuff exploded in my face) -- but I can't find anything in my inbox. I've enough time to do some reading, now. Let me know.

[kizmet-42.livejournal.com]

Umm.... YES YES YES!


Like I'd pass on this.

[wahlee-98.livejournal.com]

You know I'm in.

[leah-s.livejournal.com]

Would love to. I really enjoyed the first three chapters.

[infiniteviking]

If there's any room left, I'd love to be part of the audience! I can't start anything until the second week of October, but after that?

[sarahsan]

Well, I know you've already gotten several takers, and that we don't know each other terribly well, so of course I perfectly understand if you can't say yes. But I would very much like to volunteer, too. What you say about being a storyteller, and needing an audience, resonates with me. I'd be thrilled to help in even the smallest way (though my comments are most likely to be of the "YEY NEW CHPTR PLZ!" camp). ^_^;;

I dunno if you know this about me, but one of my life aspirations is--eventually--to be a fiction editor; good stories and engaging characters are true passions of mine, and I have to tell you I've been totally hooked on your writing, and this world/story in particular, for a long while.

Again, you won't destroy my little soul by saying no. I do so wish you luck and blessings on this huge endeavor of yours; can't wait to finally buy one of your novels off my bookstore shelf! ;)

[yahtzee63.livejournal.com]

I figured that was what you were going to say, and yes, it's tough for me too. I got FB along the way with Evernight, but I pretty much went it alone on Stargazer, and it felt a bit like walking through town naked. I did it, but it's not as much fun.

My betas are going to walk with me on Delilah for a bit; eventually I'll go that one alone too, but at first I think some FB will help. New genre, all that. (Though any pseudoAlias story really should not be new to me at this point.)

Due to Delilah (and the maybe-move, and the surgery), I cannot commit to Touching Indigo, but I hope you get a crack team together and kick some storytelling butt.

[newport2newport.livejournal.com]

I'm one of those writers, too -- I do much better when I have an audience. I'd love it if my first drafts were more coherent so I could send them out sooner.

Good luck finding beta readers. I don't have time to crit anyone else's work right now, but I'm cheering you on from the sidelines.

[bookaholicgirl.livejournal.com]

Not sure how many people you need, but I also was intrigued by that little snippet you posted earlier this year, so if you need another reader, let me know!

[callyperry.livejournal.com]

I cannot do this because I am now, officially, the worst and slowest beta reader in the history of the planet. I'm at least 1400 pages behind in comments on the book(s) I've already agreed to beta.

But maybe I can has chapters anyway? And sometimes say, whoa, great book, thanks, have cookie, write more now?

[olmue.livejournal.com]

Me, me, me!! Pick me!

I am totally this kind of writer. I have a chapters crit group that's way too slow for critting an entire novel (although we do swap completed projects on occasion), but it teaches me how to write decent prose, and the fact that I have an audience is the main reason I have one novel done and another halfway through a draft.

[olugbemisola.livejournal.com]

If you need an extra or backup reader, I'd love to participate.

[ellenacious.livejournal.com]

I'd love to beta read what you're writing! You don't know me, so I know you might not feel comfortable with that, but I'm a voracious reader (always have been) who will respond quickly and I love reading YA stuff - as evidenced by my multiple bookshelves that are overflowing with more books for non-adults than for actual adult people. So please send chapters if you can... this is exciting!

[izhilzha.livejournal.com]

I'm kind of your opposite, in that my first drafts are typically rather dreadful. But the immediacy of fandom feedback (and the along-the-way feedback I get through my writer's group, even of the crazier early drafts) is a huge motivator for me to keep working on something.

I almost volunteered to be a reader, but I knew you'd get swamped with people less busy than I am to do that duty for you. Much as I would love to get my hands on this story as it's being written, I'll just have to sigh and wait till it gets published. :-)

[rose-in-shadow.livejournal.com]

*scratches head* Didn't you ask for Indigo readers awhile back or am I recalling Knife?

Anywho, if you're still wanting people, I'd like to join the club. Do we get buttons and discounts on various useless things around town like other clubs?

[my_daroga]

I love hearing about different people's methods. Even if it shames me for not working as hard as I should. This reminds me of Stephen King's concept of an "ideal reader," not the guy out there who will one day read your book but the person in your life who can check you. I'm lucky that my husband is good at that, and he in turn brings his comics and song lyrics to me. Between the two of us, we've ironed lots of things out; and we always have someone there who can take a look at what we're doing.

Yeah, it all depends on a particular person's process and their ego-space. But it's great to know enough about yourself to know what you need.