by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
So, I’ve reached a huge milestone in my efforts to write the first draft of my first novel — I have finished the scene summaries of all the scenes leading up to the end of the novel.
So, really, pretty much all I have to do is just sit down, get drunk and do my best Philip K. Dick impression — without the crank, of course. If all goes according to plan, within a week or so, I will have a finished first draft. Then, as is the rule of thumb about such things, I will give myself about a month to rest, think about other things and hopefully do a lot — a lot — of reading.
Of course, I say that all the time and then all I do is continue to exactly what I’ve been doing is, which only reading my own content as I produce it.
And there is the issue of any number of things could throw a curve ball at me that might delay — or change the context — of things going forward. I’m having a soreness around a tooth and my fear is I’m going to have a severe toothache of some sort to the point that I won’t be able to write until I get the tooth fixed.
As such, I feel compelled to write as much as possible as quickly as possible. I have a bottle of whiskey to drink and a little extra time…so on paper I should be able to finish this first draft sooner rather than later.
But, again, anything could go wrong. I have to just write as much as possible to see if I can get this first novel done before all hell breaks loose one way or another.
