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Allison Larkin

Internationally Best-Selling Author

You are here: Home / writing / Let it go already

Let it go already

November 24, 2008 Filed Under: writing

There’s this weird transition going from the editing stage of an ongoing writing project to the first draft stage of a new one.

In editing, you’re striving to make things perfect, or at least closer to perfect (I’m big on multiple drafts), but in the actual writing of the first draft, you’re just feeling things out and trying to figure out where it’s all going to go.

I am SO excited about my new project. The idea evolved from that first line while I pulled dead marigolds, into a pitch-type outline while I was in the shower, into some pages that have a tone and pace I’m starting to like. I’m still trying to figure out the parameters of my new characters and the world they live in. It’s not scifi or anything. I’m not world building in that sense, but I still need to know where they live and work and play and what they look like.

Right now, it’s like I’m looking at that new world without my contacts in. Everything is blurry, but I can see the shapes of people, places, and things. And because everything is blurry, I need to give myself permission to write, as Anne LaMott says, a shitty first draft.

Things will sharpen later, and I know this. But it’s a little hard on the ego to go from tweaking something that’s all nice and shiny and polished and workshopped to writing vague details and stale dialogue in an attempt to see things more clearly and get to the point. I know better than to think everything I write will be gold or even plated with a gold-type material that turns your finger green eventually, but looks nice at the start. I think for every 5 pages I write, three eventually get deleted. Even though I know this, I still feel like walking away sometimes when my characters start to sound like wet cardboard. But on the flip side, it’s ridiculously fun to make discoveries, and I have a lot to learn about my new characters.

3 Comments

Comments

  1. Courtney says

    November 25, 2008 at 5:24 pm

    How cool. I’ve never been any good at writing fiction, so your process is fascinating to me.

    Reply
  2. equa yona(Big Bear) says

    November 27, 2008 at 4:47 pm

    What a cool thing to share! You are a peach!
    Happy Thanksgiving

    Reply
  3. Mickey says

    December 1, 2008 at 9:47 pm

    Very cool. It must be a good sign that you’re enthusiastic about this new project.

    Also, in keeping with your blog’s title, I’d like to hear more about your turkey-cooking accident, if only to serve as a warning.

    Reply

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Glamour shot. #dailyroxydog #huskymix #chihuahuami Glamour shot. #dailyroxydog #huskymix #chihuahuamix #huskychihuahuadachshund #dog
How’s relaxing going, you ask? Well, so far I’ How’s relaxing going, you ask? Well, so far I’ve cleaned the gutters and raced Roxy to the vet ER to determine she did not (thankfully) eat any of the scrap of composite plastic decking she magically found out of freaking nowhere. (Getting pet insurance was the smartest thing I’ve ever done). I’m extremely bad at rest. Although I do find puttering around the house kind of meditative. Cleaning the gutters exhausted my body, but calmed my mind (briefly).
This is our neighbor, Francis. We visit Francis a This is our neighbor, Francis. We visit Francis a couple times a week and we all like to stand around staring at each other. It’s lovely. Francis seems just as interested in us as we are in them. (And look at that stance! And Francis’s little paw resting on the ledge 😍). #groundsquirrel #groundsquirrelsofinstagram #dailyroxydog #dogstagram #neighbors
I don’t think there’s anything more comforting I don’t think there’s anything more comforting than lying in a hammock. I’m exhausted. I’ve pushed against the limits of my being very hard all summer working on my draft and I definitely need to soak up some calm quiet on a large scale. Which is also to say if I owe you a call/email/text, it might take me a week or two to circle back. I’m going to catch up with myself and then with everyone else this time. Which I think might mean spending as much time as I can lying in my hammock listening to birds. #rest
There are few greater joys than a long walk with a There are few greater joys than a long walk with a curious little dog. #dailyroxydog #seenonmywalk #dogsofinstagram
All I ever want is an endless stream of tiny snack All I ever want is an endless stream of tiny snacks to crunch while I’m working. But since I have MCAS and it limits my diet, most of what I eat is food I make myself. Thankfully, corn tortillas are a safe food for me (everyone’s MCAS is different — so please don’t take my safe foods as any kind of sign they’re safe for someone else who has MCAS). Today, I remembered that I  have tiny cookie cutters, so I made myself a bowl of mini chips. I tossed them with lime juice and salt and threw them in the air fryer. And then, of course, because I don’t want to waste food, I did the same for the scrap pieces (which somehow tasted even better!). So happy! #tortillachips
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