How about a
biology lesson today?
Anyone heard
of Connective Tissue? Connective Tissue maintains the form of the body along
with its internal organs, providing cohesion and support. It is a scaffolding for
other cells to rest and where nerve tissue and muscle tissue are embedded. The entire body is supported from within by a
skeleton composed of bone, a type of connective tissue able to resist stress due
to its laminated structure and hardness. The individual bones of the skeleton
are held firmly together by ligaments, and muscles are attached to bone by
tendons, both of which are examples of dense connective tissue. At the joints,
the bones are covered with cartilage, a connective tissue with a substance that
gives it a consistency adapted to permitting smooth movements between surfaces.
Additionally,
blood vessels and nerves travel through connective tissue. Some types of
connective tissue play an important role in providing oxygen and nutrients from
capillaries to cells, and carbon dioxide and waste substances from cells back
into circulation. They also allow organs to resist stretching and tearing
forces. Most significantly, our body’s immunological defenses are found within
connective tissue.
Our organs…heart,
lungs, liver, spleen, kidneys, brain…might give us life, but without the
connective tissue, what kind of life would it really be?
That’s all
very interesting – you say – but what’s my point?
Those of you
who follow my posts regularly know that I’m deep in the throes of a first
draft. This is my 4th book (none published yet), and consequently
many of the posts I’ve been uploading lately have revolved around my writing
process…specifically the first draft kind. I’ve talked about my “Blow & Go”
method of creating a first draft, and today I’m using a different analogy to delve
a little bit deeper.
I purposely
leave out a lot of connective tissue when I begin a new project. Not all of it
of course, as the skeletal framework is representative of my outline, but a
good portion won’t be layered in until the 2nd or 3rd
drafts. That’s one reason anyone reading the first version of my work would be
unimpressed…to put it kindly. Character arcs will seem choppy and uneven, mood setting
devices completely absent, descriptive language almost non-existent, and the pacing
will resemble the heart rate of an elderly two-pack-a-day man with arrhythmia.
If I’m
shooting for an 85,000 word novel, then my first draft will usually come in
around 60K, and that’s so I leave enough room to surgical implant the connective
tissue. This analogy makes it sound like I’m simply adding filler or padding,
but in my opinion the connective tissue is what turns an average novel into a
great one, or a great one into a spectacular one. The proper amount of added character
traits and quirks bolsters an interesting personality into someone memorable. A
couple words here and there, or a succinctly placed narrative, make the words
flow from the page as opposed to being pulled from it.
Be careful
though, too much connective tissue and you could end up with a dangling
participle! :)
I do the same thing, leaving out the connective tissue on my first draft. I'm revising now, and working on adding 15k to my YA so that it's more fleshed out. Harder than it looks!
ReplyDeleteI write similar, although all the connection is there. Mine lacks a lot of flesh and muscle. My first drafts are always short as well.
ReplyDeleteI always think I'm adding the "meat" to my story in the 2nd and 3rd rounds. It's pretty thin otherwise.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting. I try to connect too many things right away when I'm writing. Makes it very slow.
ReplyDeleteI do the same thing - write light, and layer it on later. I've used the bone, muscle and tissue analogy myself! Great minds :)
ReplyDeleteAnd BTW, being as how I'm your CP, I KNOW your first drafts are not wretched. They're pretty damn good, especially for a first draft. And it'll get even better once you graft on that tissue :)
I'm the same way. I always start off with a 50-60K draft, but end up with an 85-95K finished product. Which, because I write YA, I usually need to cut back again.
ReplyDeleteI really like that analogy.
ReplyDelete