We often call the drafting stage being on the “chapter train” as when you get going, it can feel great, like you’re chug-chugging your way through, watching your book get longer and more complete one chapter at a time. But drafting doesn’t usually feel like the chapter train all the way through. A stellar plan and outline in development can set you on the right path and map out your course, but it can’t completely sweep away everything that might come up along the way. Sometimes you have to stop and step back to figure out your next move, and other times you just need to power through and trust yourself to keep moving forward. After all, many hiccups and awkward transitions or other chapter faults can be fixed in revision. One of the essential skills you learn in the drafting stage is how to recognize a problem you need to stop and address—and what kind of problems are “second draft problems.”
Reading is essential to improving your writing skills, and reading like a writer means seeing past the glossy end-result into a book’s structure and the author’s choices about how the story is told. Learning to read like a writer doesn’t mean learning how to merely imitate but learning the craft by example. We’re excited to announce the launch of our Memoir Method Book Club! Your first session is free, so sign up to save your seat here.
Don’t Let Obstacles Derail You
One of the most important things to remember in the whole process of writing a book is that problems, weaknesses, and difficult questions will come up, but they don’t have to derail you, make you doubt yourself and the project, or stop your progress in its tracks. We all love when it’s going smoothly. Sometimes when it really gets going, you can even get what I call a “drafter’s high.” Kind of like a runner’s high, it takes a while to build up to and it is so naturally motivating to keep going. But for most of us, not every session or chapter is going to go that smoothly and feel that good, but that doesn’t mean the writing isn’t going to be good or that we’ve lost any of our ability to write. The developmental stage is important for working out major structural planning and decisions, and it really will help you stay on track through the writing process, but it’s not magic. Expect there to be times when you have to slow down and figure out how to piece things together, or even stop and step back.
Stuck in the “and-thens”
Sometimes when you’re relating a scene, the memory of what happened during that time becomes so crystal clear that you can see and feel every detail. You find yourself taking your reader by the hand and walking them through that entire day, and then it becomes difficult to separate needed details from boring ones. First you got up and then you made a breakfast of ham and eggs and then the coffee was too bitter so you were late because you made another pot and then…
While you might not use the phrase “and-then” you can start to see when you’re stuck in the and-thens when you start to forget what your point was. Suddenly the writing seems very boring, and if you’re finding it boring to write, then it’s probably going to be boring for the reader too! This is a good time to stop, step back and revisit that outline. Why did that scene get included in the first place? How does it connect the chapter before to the chapter after? What emotional change occurs? When you can name this focus, then try to see how close you can get to that moment and still provide enough context for your reader to understand the setting and events? This can cut back on the scene setting and help you get back to your focus without walking through every step with an “and-then.”
Drifting in the clouds
The opposite of this issue can also get you off track. Sometimes you come to realize that you’ve been spending a lot of time—maybe even several pages—philosophizing or expounding on themes and lessons. This is also a sign you need to stop, step back and check your map (your outline) to help you see the forest for the trees. Make a clear plan to find your way back to the concrete events and happenings of that chapter. In revision, you will probably need to edit back and cut some of that side-track detour, but that can be a second-draft problem.
Hopscotching
Often you will find several scenes, not always close together in time, along with informational pieces or necessary context and background that all go together in the same chapter. You might find yourself writing each piece individually but then struggling to find how they piece together. This is not an invalid way to construct a complex chapter, but it is a sign you want to take a step back and check your map. The best method, I have found, for making a strong plan for how to put these pieces together is to focus on change. What emotional and practical changes are being highlighted in the chapter? (If there’s no change in the chapter, this is a sign to revisit your outline—each chapter should contain something that changes and develops). When you can define the change, look for the pieces that best represent the biggest contrast, the before and after, and set those as the entry and exit points for the chapter. Once you have those in place, you will have a framework for how all the other pieces can be introduced and incorporated.
You’re in the rewriting spin-cycle
On a bad day, you wrote a not-great piece and when you came back to it the next writing session, you hate it so much that you want to just delete it and start over. But then you hate that version, too. This cycle of rewriting and deleting is devious and can eat at your soul as well as waste your time. So stop. Step back. Read it while sitting on your hands, even if you hate it. Resist the temptation to delete and try again. What it would be like if you just kept going? If you look back on your outline, do you know the next piece? Try to power through and keep going, even if that means leaving that scene or even chapter a little broken or even unfinished. With more of your book under your belt, you will almost certainly gain clarity about what that problem child really needs.
Two signs to trust yourself and keep going
Sometimes doubt creeps in when there’s no reason to at all. The chapter train starts to slow down, not because there’s debris on the tracks or a genuine obstacle, but because you’re starting to lose your confidence a little bit or just that voice of self-doubt is talking to you just to hear itself. So here are two important signs that you actually don’t need to stop your chapter train to regroup, and you don’t even need to slow down, because you are exactly where you need to be.
Discovering Complications
As you write, you may discover that your message and story have even more layers than you thought when you set out to write. You’re discovering things about yourself and what you experienced that you didn’t fully understand from the outset, or in ways you can express now more clearly than you thought possible. This is amazing! Don’t let self-doubt make you panic and think you need to go back and start over with this new revelation. Keep going and let that nuance come out naturally.
“Am I being too…?”
It doesn’t really matter what the rest of that question is. It will probably come up more than once as you write. Am I being too sad? Too glib? Too dark? Am I coming off as sarcastic or flippant or am I being too sappy and maudlin? Maybe you are, but maybe you aren’t. Imagine standing in a corner of the room, examining the corner and thinking “Man, this room is really dark.” You can’t actually tell if the whole room is too dark when you’re standing in the corner. The same is true when you’re writing a chapter—you can’t really tell if there’s a “too much” or “too little” element because you’re standing quite close to it. These are all second draft problems.
This is where you need to really trust yourself. Not just the version of you writing now, but your future self who is going to be tackling revising these problems later (if they do in fact exist.) It’s possible that in context, you’ll see that the tone of that chapter balances out against the others beautifully! Or that it might need some revision to change the tone. Either way, as your drafting, learn to trust yourself to consider these second draft problems in revisions.
PS. Searching the internet for writing, publishing, and book marketing advice can be exhausting to say the least! If you’re ready for hands on, one-on-one support for your memoir, check out The Memoir Method. We’d love to welcome you into this nine-month group program specially designed for women writing their first memoirs. And don’t forget, if you’d like to chat with Amanda about the program (or any other services we offer), you can book a free consult any time!
