Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Deadline Writing - Finding the Love

My son once told me that a Chick-fil-A Biscuit would “change my life.” So, I traveled twenty miles to the nearest Chick-fil-A in time for breakfast and ordered up a chicken biscuit. It was good. Yummy, even. But it wasn’t life-changing.

Not like Candace Havens’ Fast Draft Method.

If you read my post here last month, you know I’ve hit a new stage in my writing—writing to tight deadlines. I have to admit, at first, I wasn’t all that thrilled with this new challenge. Oh, I was beyond happy with a two-book contract. I was super excited that my editor had so much faith in me. I’d already fallen in love with the characters. I knew their stories and really, really wanted to bring them to life on the page. But writing a book in two months? Ooooh, scary stuff for an author who labors over each manuscript for a minimum of half a year.
That was before I met Harlequin Blaze author Candace Havens who introduced me to her concept of Fast Draft writing.

Believe me when I say that, for an author, this method will “change your life.” And I’m not the only one who feels that way. My good friend, Roxanne St. Claire, experienced true epiphany when Candace spoke to our local RWA chapter last month. The author of thirty books, Roxanne put the Fast Draft method to work for her. Much better than I ever could, she talked about the experience yesterday on Murder She Writes.

If you write and are looking for a way to do it better, faster, check Roxanne's column at: http://www.murdershewrites.com/2011/10/11/standing-on-my-skyscraper-sampling-some-crow out

2 comments:

linda s said...

I love the skyscaper analogy. Thanks for the link. Two months for a complete book is a little scary. I've loved your books. Good Luck with the fast draft.

Leigh Duncan said...

Didn't that skyscraper analogy make so much sense?!? It helped me realize I was doing the same thing, struggling to make things perfect before I even knew if the story "worked."

Oh, and I'm so glad you liked "The Officer's Girl" and "The Daddy Catch," Linda.