How writing a first draft is like holding your breath under water

Interested in how the writing process works for at least two of us writers?

Read this blog post my writer friend, Beth Shope, wrote after a conversation we had about what it's like for both of us writing our first drafts.

And the mysterious, wonderful transformation that happens once the words are on the page.

~photo by Elma, courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Colonial Quills

I'm posting at Colonial Quills today, so come on over and chat with me about road trips, 18th century style.

Not in St. Louis, but wish you were?

Today I'm not in St. Louis attending the American Christian Fiction Writers 2011 Conference, like so many of my writer friends and colleagues. I'm not attending the awards banquet this evening, when the winners of the Carol Award and the Genesis Contest will be announced.

Instead I'm endeavoring to finish the final chapter of Tamsen and Jesse's story, The Pursuit of Tamsen Littlejohn. Not the final chapter or scene that needs to be written. I skipped a few scenes along the way, knowing I'd come back to them. But it is the final couple of scenes of the story. I've been hunkered down since February, weaving this tale. It's exciting to be so near The End, but more on that in an upcoming post.

At 4:30pm (Pacific time) I'll take a break to watch the live feed of the Carol Awards and Genesis Contest Awards. So many of my writing friends are there attending. While I'm happy to be home alone writing today, I feel a bit wistful to be missing the chance to mix and mingle.

My crit partner Laura Frantz's historical, Courting Morrow Little, is up for the Carol Award for historical fiction. It's a wonderful book set on the 18th century Kentucky frontier with a powerful theme of forgiveness, and well worthy of such recognition. I'm rooting for you, Laura!

Home stretch

I'm on the home stretch with the first draft of The Pursuit of Tamsen Littlejohn (hence my preoccupied silence on the blog so far this month). This isn't my first novel by an means, but oddly enough, it is the first that was easier to write in the middle than the end.

I've never had a child, but if writing a book is to be compared to childbirth, as some have compared it, I guess I'm bearing down now.

OUCH! I-CAN'T-DO-THIS-SOMEONE-LET-ME-OUTTA-HERE!

But I'll forget the pain as soon as I hold this finished first draft in my hands, right? :)

I'll allow myself a couple of weeks of rest and euphoria, then comes the child rearing (editing & revision)!