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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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Okay, fine. Her jacket is reversible and we kinda Okay, fine. Her jacket is reversible and we kinda match. I admit it. Alright? We all knew this was coming. None of this should be a surprise to any of us. #dailyroxydog #huskychihuahua #dogjacket #peoplewhomatchtheirdogs
Just a dog in a puffy jacket that matches her lawn Just a dog in a puffy jacket that matches her lawn chair. And she likes it! #dailyroxydog #chihuahuamix #ilovemydog
We are in the habit of starting and ending our day We are in the habit of starting and ending our days side by side in our lawn chairs, while the light rises or dims. It’s still chilly at the outer edges of the day. Sometimes Roxy shivers. I bought her a sweater, but she won’t wear it. Sometimes I try to wrap her in my jacket, but she’s not having that either, so I throw her ball and try to get her run and then she comes back to her chair, warm for a little longer. #dailyroxydog #huskychihuahua #dogssittinginchairs
“I got a secret I should tell. I’m going up to “I got a secret I should tell. I’m going up to heaven in a split pea shell.” ~ @petermulvey43 Words Too Small to Say
Happy as a dog in a freshly dug nap hole. #dailyro Happy as a dog in a freshly dug nap hole. #dailyroxydog #huskymixesofinstagram
I saw this little dresser at my favorite magic ant I saw this little dresser at my favorite magic antique store sometime in November and didn’t buy it. But then, of course, I kept thinking about her. She’s the perfect size for my office, and I found those drawer pulls hilarious. When I finally went back in December, I told myself I was shopping for wall art, because I assumed she would be gone. But she was right where I’d seen her last: balanced on another dresser with boxes of old picture frames and tchotchkes piled on top (the true mark of a magic antique store). I didn’t even realize she had a towel rack — that she was a wash stand, not a dresser — until I asked about the price, said I’d take her, and my favorite magic antique store person asked if we needed to unscrew the towel rack to fit her in my car. I suspect this little sweetie is not from the days of necessary wash stands so much as from a country kitchen in the 80s. She was in rough shape, and not made from wood worth stripping and re-staining, but her price reflected that. I had to disassemble that door and put it back together, but I’d been in the market for some experience working with old furniture, and she made me feel brave about trying. I thought about painting her something more neutral, but I’m so glad I didn’t. She deserves to be pink. She’s not perfectly painted and needs a few touch ups. I learned some things about chalk paint and finishes. The drawers stick a bit. Eventually, I’d like to line them with fabric and when I do, I might plane the edges to smooth things out. But goodness, I love her in a way that I wouldn’t if I hadn’t spent time cleaning away her cobwebs and scrubbing the grime from her hilarious drawer pulls. She’s also become a little shrine for the book I’m working on, which makes me love her even more. I’ve always been a person who sees some soul in certain things, and I’m learning to cherish that idiosyncrasy, because there’s so much joy to be found in a brave little toaster or an underdog wash stand. We’re not here in the world for all that long. We may as well love some bright little things. #furnituremakeover
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