katecavanaugh
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Experiments are back!!
🕑 Added 2025-01-16 13:35:03 +0000 UTCHello, hello friends!
Quick reminder before we jump into our writing experiment options: we have a stream today, at 3:30pm CST! You can find the link here. We'll also be chatting about our final Crafts & Drafts book club pick from 2024, REFUSE TO BE DONE. 150 quick pages on how to write and rewrite your story in just 3 drafts.
Okay, okay, on to the experiment options!!
The first was inspired by our very own RainyHammer, the PomLESSdoro!
This looks like it'll be a good tool for those days where motivation is tricky. It's done in rounds, with short breaks. So you start off with a 50-minute sprint, and get a 10-minute break, then jump back into a 40-minute sprint, followed by another 10-minute break. You do the 50/10, 40/10, 30/10, 20/10, until you get to your final ten minute work sprint. Then you're done!! Adding this time up, it is just barely over three hours. Three hours of (mostly) dedicated work. I think it'll be really fun to see how much we can get done in this time. We could even do it during a Patreon stream as well!
The second option is throwing the outline away (x3).
This was actually inspired by one of our Crafts & Drafts book club picks, How to Write a Mystery. The suggestion is to write the outline of your story one day, but then "throw it away," and start over the next day. Repeat that process three times, and in theory, your brain will only remember the absolutely BEST, most interesting details of your story. So you're building upon more and more greatness each time. (In theory.) After having finished my outline-a-thon recently, I think this could be either really awesome or really awful bahaha. It might feel a bit like purgatory, or I could come up with my favorite outline yet. Who knows!
And our final option is the Goodbye Zero Draft.
Okay, I'll confess that this one is already partially in the works, but I clearly need extra motivation to finish. So this was inspired by a stream I did AGES ago with the incredible Becca C. Smith and JC Carpenter. I'd told them how I'd just heard about a woman who wrote her first draft by hand then THREW IT AWAY (or locked it up in a lockbox, never to be seen again) and then started over completely from scratch.
I've been working on my tentatively titled BEJEWELED handwritten project for, I think, over a year now. I'm over halfway through the notebook, adding a page or two every few weeks. But this would be the kick in the butt needed to actually finish it (AND THEN THROW IT AWAY OMG). And start afresh in a similar vein, my brain theoretically remembering only the best, juiciest parts, and filling in from what I now know of my characters and world with something better since I can't reference back what I've written.
I'm happy to attempt all of these options -- let me know what YOU would like to see most. :)
Thanks everyone, hope to see y'all at the stream today. Until next time, happy writing!
Comments
Auburn
Am I the drama? lol. The idea of "Goodbye Zero Draft" sounds so intriguing! I'd love to know the results of an experiment like that
Nicole
Can I vote against Goodbye Zero draft?! Ahhhhh!!! Terrifying
Persephone
Oh my gosh, the throw it away options sound so intimidating as someone with a not great memory, but maybe that’s part of the appeal! I would honestly be interested to try any of these, can’t wait to see what wins!
Carmella Dillman
I admit, I’d probably really struggle to actually throw away anything, but in a sense, this is something I already do, partly because I end up changing so much from the outline/zero draft but also because I forget which notebook/app I wrote the original in 😂
Sara
I really want to see the results of one or both of the "throw it away" experiments. I'm always afraid of forgetting material ideas (like to an anxiety-inducing point) so I think I'd really benefit from a "throwing away" approach, as it may teach me to trust my brain more.
Tamy
I could never do the throw-away options. Just thinking about it feels horrible :D Once when I had just finished a scene I was particularly proud of, my computer froze before I could save it. I wrote it again immediately, trying to convince myself that I am going to do it better.. but I still wonder, if it was not better the first time around whilst I was experiencing the scene for the first time myself..
Claire Kinmil
If you end up doing the second or third option, I would be interested in the comparison between the drafts. Like, don't throw the previous drafts away, read them after you've written the new version and tell us - did you actually remember all the good parts and only the good parts?
Kate Cavanaugh Writes
I’m thinking that I wouldn’t actively throwaway the outlines, but move them to a separate section and not reference them until the end. That way, especially for the sake of the experiment, I can compare across all of them after!
Candace Floyd
All of them sound awesome and the PomLESSdoro is a great group/stream project. But I think the 3 outline experiment will get some really interesting results
Ashley
I will!!
Kate Cavanaugh Writes
Omggggg that would be incredible though. And also yes, torture. But AWESOME bahaha. If you end up doing it, you HAVE to let me know!
Ashley
To be honest, I might mix all three as my own experiment. Like use the pomLESSdoro to outline. “Toss” the three outlines away as I zero draft them. Then lock the zero drafts away. But that may sound like a great idea in my head but it’s the worst to physically do. 😅
Kate Cavanaugh Writes
That's my favorite part. I enjoy coming up with them and then can pass the decision making onto y'all because I don't want to choose either lololol!
Kate Cavanaugh Writes
I really think it'll be a blast!!
Kerri B
PomLESSdoro sounds really fun!
Ashley
I like them all lol. It’s hard to choose.
