life of flowers « Angela Wallace, Author

No, I do not mean your writing should smell bad. Rather, writing a book is like growing an onion–it happens layer by layer. One doesn’t typically bust out a perfect best-seller in the first draft. (And if you do, well then kudos, but most of us aren’t gods.)

Writers are told the most important thing in writing is to just get something on paper (or Word, since most of us are computer trained by now). A messed up paragraph is easier to fix than a blank page. I, for one, enjoy watching my novel transform from superficial first draft to detailed final product. There are so many aspects that make up a good book–plot, description, characterization, emotional investment, grammar. (It’s amazing how much that last one comes up in book reviews.)

I don’t know about most of you, but I’m guessing that like me, you can’t keep all those aspects at the forefront of your brain at the same time. Maybe you’ve got one down really well, but it takes a few rounds to nail another. That’s okay because it’s all part of the process of writing/growing a novel.

Everyone’s process is different too. My first drafts are all about plot and pacing. That comes easiest to me. Then I have to go back and work on adding subtle characterization to make my characters really pop. Grammar is not an issue, but there are some technical aspects that I need to focus on one at a time, like passive voice (“was”) clusters. In the revision process, I go over each chapter again and again, each time with a different focus, adding another layer.

When it’s over, I’m exhausted. But seeing how my novel changed and grew makes all that work worthwhile.

What’s your growing process like? Do you know which layers you tend to apply first? Last? Do you struggle with this concept, pushing yourself to write down the first words perfectly?

Take a look at this video of flowers. Notice how the first petals push out, and then later how more petals emerge and fill in the center. Like a fully bloomed flower, a great novel is full of rich complexities–and they didn’t come together all at once!