It's basically a formless...um, blob...that just eats and destroys things. Have you even seen the movie? It's kind of hilariously bad, and the whole premise is just, well...Giant, oozing Blob terrorizes small town!
But anyway.
There's a point in my drafting process when I realize my darling WiP is The Blob.
Around 30,000 words or so, I'm far enough in where subplots are happening and I'm trying to keep things interesting and usually, I'm still trying to figure out what's going on. So I throw stuff in there to see what happens. Or I jump around and write scenes out of order. Or I have a completely new idea for a plot twist and I start writing in that direction.
Right now, my draft is not a cohesive story. It's bits and pieces hemmed together and broken apart. It's messy, formless, and growing.
My draft is the FREAKING BLOB.
And you know what? That's okay. It might be a huge glob of mush that sometimes terrorizes my brain, but eventually it will start to take shape. Even now, when it moves just right, I can almost see what it will look like later on. It makes me love it even though it's hideous right now, and makes me feed it even though sometimes I just want to spray it with a fire extinguisher and freeze it (uh, movie reference).
But it's those sparkling moments of glory when you can see what your draft is supposed to be that make you keep going, keep pushing through the Ugly. One day it will be a shiny, gorgeous piece of art, and you'll love it even more knowing that you made it pretty when it used to look like this:
My first WiP pretty much had a cohesive plot the entire way through. It needed a lot of restructuring, but it was still a story with a beginning, middle, and end. But this draft? Not so much. Funny how different books can have such drastically different processes.
I'm with you. First drafts can be a little scary with all the crap it contains :)
ReplyDeleteYes, definitely scary, lol! I actually can't wait to edit this thing.
DeleteI have a feeling the one I'm about to start is going to be THE BLOB for a while. Good luck on making it solid. ;0)
ReplyDeleteThanks, you too! I'm hoping it starts to take shape soon :)
DeleteThis WIP of mine is more of a blob than the rest. The outline I started with resembles nothing of what's actually happening. I love the blob analogy. :)
ReplyDeleteHa, that usually happens when I outline, too. Although if I don't outline, I always wish I did. *sigh*
DeleteMine was a Total Blob (capitals verrry much needed). So very blobby. Then I made my outline (after I had written the entire thing; there was not even a word of an outline before) and everything got structure. hoorah!
ReplyDeleteMine is definitely a Total Blob, too. I really can't wait until this thing has structure...which will probably be at the end when I edit, lol.
Delete"Am I the only one who's writing a craptastic first draft?" Uh, no. My first book first draft has been through several re-WRITES (not just revision) and it still isn't done. In fact, It's going to be scrapped and re-written, yet again.
ReplyDeleteI say we embrace our blobs! Blobs unite!
Haha yesss, blobs unite! I'm glad I'm not alone :)
DeleteWhen you first mentioned The Blob, I thought you meant the x-men villain.
ReplyDeleteYes, I am a geek. :)p
My original first draft was just scary, but the rough first draft for "New Beginnings" was definitely blob-like. I even had a binder for all those scenes written out of place. It made it easy to flip through them and figure out where they were supposed to be. Also, it helped when it came time to piece everything together and write the bits in between. :D
I write out of order too, but I have a separate document right now with all of the order-less scenes. It'll definitely be a pain stringing it all together in the end. The out of orderness definitely makes blobs more blobby! :)
DeleteDefinitely one big ugly blob in Scrivener here!
ReplyDeleteOhhh, Scrivener! I really want to try that one day. I've heard good things :)
DeleteOohhhhh, I ALWAYS hit this phase.
ReplyDeleteI'm a pantser till I die, even when my WiP is based on a story that's already been written.
Scrivener is a lifesaver in this regard. Even if *I* know it's a blob, Scrivener makes it *look* all pretty and organized.
Good luck, my friend. You'll come out on the other side. :)
Thank you, friend! I'm trying to remember that it IS just a phase. I have a love/hate relationship with pantsing.
DeleteScrivener sounds awesome! I might have to make the switch sometime soon. Anything that could make a blob look pretty must be magical. :)
I am a plotter, so my first drafts always have a beginning, middle, and end. I can't imagine writing something like the blob. I'm too much of a control freak. I want structure! I admire your ability to hop around and write pieces of a story. You'll fit it all together in the end, just like a puzzle. : )
ReplyDeleteI want structure, too! Haha. This book is just...different, I guess. I didn't write my last one out of order, so I have no idea where all this skipping around came from! I think being a control freak--at least for writing--is a good thing :)
DeleteIt's funny, my first WIP was affectionately called "Hot Mess" so you can imagine the state it was in!
ReplyDeleteThe very fist version of WIP2, the first 25K words came out relatively clean in terms of plot, but after a while it was clear that I had no real story. Even in this version, though I had several subplots that I could follow, I kept the central storyline pretty clean and straightforward.
Now, I say the story line. The actual writing is a meandering crap fest. Even after brainstorming a scene, it still comes out crazy and ridiculous. BUT, I've learned that I needed to write it out of my head, every little crazy thing, just so I can write it better.
Get The Blob finished! Then, make it pretty! ^_^
Haha, your "Hot Mess" title totally makes me feel better! At least your first 25k of WIP2 are clean :) And you finished the draft! Yay yay yay! I'm totally with you on getting the story out and then writing it better. I'll be doing a lot of re-writing with this one, for sure. The Blob is going down!...eventually :)
DeleteDifferent books are always different. Some of my first drafts are pretty clean, while others are just....awful. But that's the good part! Because revisions just make it soooo much better.
ReplyDeleteSo funny how different they can be, in process and quality, right? I'm definitely looking forward to revisions with this one!
DeleteWell, I start at the beginning with very little idea what's going to happen and just keep writing till I type 'the end'. There are definitely plot holes and character arc issues in the first draft, but it tends to be a little less 'blobby' since I don't skip around.
ReplyDeleteThough, it most definitely isn't a pretty shape by any means :)
I want to really, really try not to skip around with my next one. It's kind of a headache :) What's funny is that I do outline a little, but with this story I'm still feeling the need to skip around. I'm impressed that you can write a whole draft in order without planning!
Delete