Happy Endings: You know what they say about the first pancake...

Bon appetit!

These weekend posts, a glimpse behind the scenes as I write a new novel - more than one new novel! I never learn! - are for paid subscribers.

If you are a paid subscriber - thank you! I appreciate it. If not, I would love it if you would consider upgrading. It costs just over £1 a week (less if you go for an annual subscription!)

If you would like a paid sub but can’t afford one, email me and I’ll sort you out.

---

No writing diary this week because I’ve been doing rewrites, so every day would be me making mimsy changes to my draft - or, more likely, making yet more notes about the stuff I need to write without actually doing any of the writing - and then giving myself a reward.

I’m pretty happy with the draft, happier than I expected to be, but the stuff I still need to write is the big, dramatic, conflict stuff and I am rubbish at that. I just want everyone to be happy! NOW KISS.

Currently I have bullet point lists of what needs to happen and the plan is to just keep expanding on each bullet point until they become scenes. Wish me luck.

Anyway, I wanted to talk about early drafts. And trying. And failing. And how so often we look at the finished product and think I could never do that, forgetting all the stages that came before, some (probably many!) of which were likely godawful.

A while ago, I read a quote about how being disheartened by your writing in the early stages is like looking at a pile of flour, sugar and eggs and thinking this cake tastes awful. (Wish I could find the actual quote. I have looked.)

Obvious this is iconic, but please also go and watch episode 2 of series 7 of Taskmaster in which James tries to build a tower up a tree and I cry laughing every time I watch it.

I’ve just finished reading Creativity, Inc. about Pixar, and it is crammed with lessons about the value of failing and how so often the first draft doesn’t work. The only things that survived the first draft of Up were the tall bird and the title. No Russell, no Dug. No Carl and Ellie. No balloon house!

Before the next draft of my WIP (I know there will be a next draft), I plan to rewatch the brilliant Disney+ documentary about the making of Frozen II. Even if you don’t like Disney or Frozen, it’s so worth watching. It’s about creativity and flexibility and inspiration.

Embrace the Panda: Making Turning Red is also well worth a watch. (And is also on Disney+)

I’d already started writing this post when I opened Spotify and this was a suggested new release

The version of Lucky that came out in 2008 is one of my favourite songs. It’s the first song I heard when my second son was born. Some of the stuff I love is there in the first draft, but most isn’t. The words have changed, the melody has changed, there’s a bridge, and it’s not a duet. This is the single version:

I’ve been published for thirteen years and I still have to remind myself that the first draft is just a first draft.

And on that note, would you like to read the first chapter of Happy Endings?