Time to take a break from writing about running, in favor of writing about writing.

Those of you uninterested in getting into the head of a prospective novelist can return to binge-watching the latest Netflix series, but I hope you’ll give me a chance here.

No, bring it on! We can’t wait to hear more!

Thanks! Okay, here goes.

I’m hard at work on my second attempt at a debut novel, and I thought I’d pass along where it stands, and some recent things I’m doing to get it finished and in good enough shape to pitch to potential agents. Here’s a summary.

World of the Blue Jasmine is a science fiction novel in two parts. Part 1 takes place on my protagonist’s home planet and is just over 30,000 words. Part 2 is on a remote planet she travels to for a dangerous assignment, and I expect it to be 80,000-100,000 words, for a total book length of 110,000-130,000 words.

The pitch:

Anthropology professor Jackie Monroe accepts an assignment to study the people on a remote planet. But she discovers the settlers are concealing a deadly secret, threatening not only their unique way of life, but the other worlds as well. As Jackie is drawn into their struggle and falls in love with a settlement leader, she must decide: will she betray her lover and the settlers by revealing their secret, or keep it and put the rest of humanity at risk?

I’m sure this raises a lot of questions, but that’s the idea! And all of them are answered in the story. But rather than subject you to the text (for now), I’ll share some of what’s running through my head while I work on completing that all-important first draft.

#1 – Just Write It, Dude

If I want a finished novel, it’s pretty fundamental that I actually write it. This is harder than it sounds. So many things distract me – paying jobs, taking care of my wife, my running training, pesky cats, and of course the pile of laundry that has to be dealt with NOW. (Come to think of it, writing this post is also a distraction.)

So what’s an ambitious famous writer wannabe to do? See the heading. But how?

John Steinbeck said, “Write freely and as rapidly as possible and throw the whole thing on paper. Never correct or rewrite until the whole thing is down.” On the other hand, James Hynes, author and professor of the Great Courses class on fiction writing, says he now revises as he goes, so when he gets to the end, he’s pretty much done. This appeals to my perfectionist streak, but slows down the rest of the creative work.

The Steinbeck approach seems to work best for me. (Plus he won a Pulitzer and Nobel Prize in Literature, so who am I to argue?) This means I allow myself to use cliché, lots of extra words, dialog that babbles, etc. for the first draft. I’m always tempted to revise in place, but that means I’m not writing the remaining story, and I only have so much time.

But of course there’s a catch…

#2 – Damn It, the Words Won’t Come

We’ve all heard the term, “writers block.” But for me it’s more of a void. There’s no wall, there’s just – nothing. To me, that’s worse. There are ways to deal with a wall. But how do you deal with nothing?

The most tempting way to handle it is to do something else and hope inspiration strikes. And it actually works, sometimes. But it’s hardly the kind of discipline a serious writer needs. What would happen if I blew off a training run every time I didn’t feel like getting my butt out there? Nothing good, if I really want to keep running ultra races.

Victor Hugo would lock himself in an empty room with just paper and pen, to force himself to write when he needed to. Well, I don’t have servants to do the mundane stuff, and my cats refuse to pitch in. So, just like running training, I have to make the time. Sit and write something, no matter what. Mornings and later in the evening seems to work best.

Let’s get this straight, human. You serve us, not the other way round.

#3 – I’m Not Worthy

Lord knows how many times the following scenario has played out.

Monday night: I wrote an entire scene! Hooray! Man, it’s good. I’m tearing up just re-reading it. I can’t wait to give this to someone and watch them swoon.

Tuesday morning reread: God, that sucks. I can’t believe how bad that scene is. Asimov wouldn’t have used it to pick up his dog’s poop. Did I say tearing up? I meant I should tear it up.

Tuesday evening: Well, I guess it’s not that bad. I’ll leave it there for now while I write more stuff around it. Keep going, get it done.

Wednesday morning: I just saw that four trillion more books were posted on Amazon last week. Christ, even if I finish this thing, how can I ever get it noticed?

From what I’ve read about authors and the process of writing, emotional swings are typical. Some sessions feel great, others a grind, other hopeless. Again, a lot like ultra training. But even a 100-mile run has a clear finish line, with medals, snackies, and beer for the survivors. What on earth keeps authors going to the end when there’s no guarantee of a reward, or even a finish line?

Here’s Steinbeck to the rescue:

“If there is a magic in story writing, and I am convinced there is, no one has ever been able to reduce it to a recipe that can be passed from one person to another. The formula seems to lie solely in the aching urge of the writer to convey something he feels important to the reader. If the writer has that urge, he may sometimes, but by no means always, find the way to do it.”

That’s it in a nutshell. I write because I have that aching urge to tell stories, whether or not anything comes of them in the end. That’s why I’ve had this blog since 2011, and why I’ve been writing stories since elementary school, and why, at this point in my life, I’m writing novels.

Next time, I’ll share some activities that are helping me improve my writing and drive me toward actually finishing this novel.

And if you made it this far, congratulations! I’d be happy to send you something from my collection of race medals. Here’s a sample. (Actually, you can’t have the Pi Day one. It’s too cool.)