Joely Sue Burkhart

Fast Draft: Ride the Creative Wave

I thought I’d illustrate some of the magic happening via Fast Draft as I work on RHP. I said before that this story is loosely plotted. I knew the character arcs prior to writing a word, thanks to the Emotional Toolbox. I knew each character’s fear, and roughly, how they would have to overcome that fear. I knew the premise and themes. I’m playing on chaos vs. control, finding balance vs. destruction, and the theme of “traps.” Everybody is trapped in some fashion in this story, even the antagonist, or perhaps I should say, especially.

However, some things are only now occurring to me. Literally, when I typed the few lines above about traps and the antagonist, I had a thought. What if…. Aha. My mind is off.

The whole draft has been this way.

Even when I sat down and plotted out the rest of the book last night, there are things I still didn’t know exactly how they’d unfold. In particular, the scene I mentioned in the Dark Moment of the romance, where my heroine, Emmaline, catches the hero, Nevar, performing forbidden (to her) magicks. On the sticky note, I had:

POV: Emmaline
Setting: Carriage House

Wakes alone. Catches Nevar doing magick. Doubt. Spy. Dark moment for the romance. Can’t love a person who–

That’s it, right down to the dash. I did not know what, exactly, he was doing, only that she would find it extremely troubling and cast their entire relationship in doubt.

As I wrote this morning, though, the scene just came. I saw Nevar with the bloody implement in his hand. I saw the form the shadows took. It was exactly what I needed, but I swear I didn’t know until that moment.

Another thing I just noticed–I kid you not. I plotted this story out over three nights, on three poster boards. When I finished Act I, I took it down and laid it over on my table–I did not keep them side by side. Last night I finished up Act III and I didn’t put it up until this morning. I decided to put them all up. And I noticed something shocking, to me at least, especially considering I didn’t do this deliberately. I don’t think I could have if I tried!

Act I: 8 scenes in Emmaline’s POV; 5 scenes in Nevar’s; 2 in Violet’s

Act II Part 1: 8 scenes in Emmaline’s POV; 5 scenes in Nevar’s; 3 in Violet’s

Act II Part 2 and Act III: 8 scenes in Emmaline’s POV; 5 scenes in Nevar’s; 3 in Violet’s.

*boggles*

The pattern isn’t exactly the same on each board, but the balance stuns me. The colors look quite nice together. Beside my story board with my inspiration pictures…. I get a big lump in my throat. If I can find the digital camera, I’ll take a picture. I look at this wall and see the MAGIC.

Believe in the magic, and ride the creative wave.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 12th, 2007 at 8:52 am and is filed under Writing, Fast Draft. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

7 Responses to “Fast Draft: Ride the Creative Wave”

Mary Says:
March 12th, 2007 at 10:23 am
I just popped in to see what you were up to… DANG Girl!!! You’re Rocking!!! I used my own version of Fast Draft last fall to finish up my Young Adult. So I know what you mean about that Magic Not only are you Obviously Motivated… BUT you are also Totally Motivating!!
Jess Says:
March 12th, 2007 at 11:24 am
I agree with Mary. Totally Motivating!

And, thanks for the Emotional Toolbox link. I ran through it for my almost-WIP and it’s amazing how it clarified some things (and even sparked scene ideas). The protag and antag are very nearly real but I’m still having trouble with my hero (that’s cuz he’s a ghost). It’s interesting to me that all three have fears that are essentially different riffs on the same theme, being alone/fear of. It just manifests differently in each one, and how they cope/react is, of course, different. Which utterly fascinates me! Is that bad/unusual, to have that happen, with the fear thing? Not to distract, sorry!
Joely Says:
March 12th, 2007 at 12:31 pm
Thanks, Mary! Did you enjoy Fast Draft as much? I love the way things just… happen. Magic.

Jess, the Emotional Toolbox is probably my number one weapon. Know the fear, know the mask, know how to yank it away and make your character jump. I love characters tottering on the Dark Side, too.

As for all your characters exhibiting a central theme–that’s a VERY GOOD THING. I was taught to do exactly that. When all of your characters relate back to your theme or premise, you create unity in the story. Sounds like you’re off to a great start!!
Nancy Bond Says:
March 12th, 2007 at 1:13 pm
It’s magic to me just to read this post, after having read through FD. I’m so pleased for you. And I’ll be sure to let you know when I start writing — hopefully tomorrow. I think the skeleton is finally set.
rhian Says:
March 12th, 2007 at 7:02 pm
it’s so very cool to watch the process Joely. You know a whole lot of people are going to feel particularly attached to this story just from having been a part of hearing how you blaze thru the creative. I really do believe that the most important part of creating isn’t the end result (usually) but the process of creating itself and what it does to the artist, writer, sculptor, actor.
Joely Says:
March 13th, 2007 at 8:45 am
Thank you so much, Nancy and Rhian. I hope the magic comes alive for you, too! Rhian, I am certainly very attached to this story–it’s been a great ride! Of course, in a month when I re-read what I’ve written, I’m sure it’ll suck.
Mary Says:
March 13th, 2007 at 8:19 pm
Hi Joely… I DID enjoy Fast Draft! And I will definitely do it again. I followed along with her workshop last fall but I didn’t do the enormous page amounts that everyone was shooting for. Mine was a young adult… targeted at 40,000 words and I had already started working on it. But the Magic still happened and I absorbed all the energy everyone had that participated
You are doing sooo GREAT with this!
I’m Cheering for You!!!

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Fast Draft: Ride the Creative Wave

7 Responses to “Fast Draft: Ride the Creative Wave”

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