Pages

▼

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

The Tangled Illustrated Guide To First Drafts

So I wrote a post about the "Doctor Who Phases of Rejection" (not seen it? Look here). Then I started thinking about first drafts. I was also watching Tangled at the time. Allow me to bring you "The Tangled Illustrated Guide To First Drafts."

1) The Shiny New Idea is so good you can't believe it came to you. No one in the history of the world has ever had this idea. IT MAKES YOU FEEL LIKE THIS:

             image

2) You puzzle over the plot:

            

3) THIS IS SO AWESOME. I'M WRITING, I'M WRITING, I'M...:

             image

4) ... Oops. Unexpected plot twist:

             image

5) Okay, I'm back on track. I OWN this story!:

             

6) I love this. I'm almost there. This is the BEST STORY EVER. It's so shiny:

             

7) OMG! My story HATES me:

             

8) I'll never make this work:

              

9) Don't mess with me. It's MY story. You are so stubborn. JUST. DO. WHAT. I. SAY. MANUSCRIPT!

             image

10) Yes! It's finally coming together:

             image

11) So tired, but finished:

              

12) Now to edit...:

              

13) Ooh! SNI:

              image

Any stages I've missed?
at

18 comments:

  1. Josin L. McQueinJune 8, 2011 at 9:09 AM

    You know that moment at the end, when he cuts her hair off and it all turns brown? That's the exact feeling you get when you realize "someone else" has a story out there eerily close to your own.

    Of course, then you read it and discover they're not all that similar at all, but a while, you feel like some guy chopped your hair off with a sword.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Landra GrafJune 8, 2011 at 9:25 AM

    Josin, you hit it on the head! I love the animation clips and yes, this is exactly what it feels like. Thank goodness you understand the frustrations that I go through every few months.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Theresa MilsteinJune 8, 2011 at 9:26 AM

    I still haven't seen this movie? Aack, I shouldn't have read Josin's comment.

    ReplyDelete
  4. LinWashJune 8, 2011 at 9:54 AM

    This is excellent! All I can think of is the bar scene in Tangled where there is a huge crowd of thuggish types. This reminds me of how we have to navigate through the backstory of some characters to get to the heart of our story. We also have to sometimes weed out some characters to avoid overcrowding a story.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Katrina L. LantzJune 8, 2011 at 10:03 AM

    Ha ha! Love it! We watch "Rapunzel" all the time over here, and her inner battle in the beginning is so much like trying to get a story out of your head. Well done!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Elena SolodowJune 8, 2011 at 10:05 AM

    Very nice! Haven't seen Tangled, but I think you covered the first draft phase very well.

    ReplyDelete
  7. StinaJune 8, 2011 at 11:52 AM

    ROFL!!! This was me last week while trying to restructure my wip after receiving feedback from a beta reader.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Amparo OrtizJune 8, 2011 at 12:01 PM

    AWESOME. This is. So. True.

    Also, Josin is right: finding out someone wrote a similar story is exactly like getting all your hair chopped off. *sigh*

    Great post!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Michelle McLeanJune 8, 2011 at 12:19 PM

    although, realizing that your stories really aren't all that similar after all so it might just be okay is like realizing you have an amazingly cute hairdo that will be much easier to care for than the thousands of yards you had before...and you got it for free :D

    ReplyDelete
  10. Beverly DiehlJune 8, 2011 at 1:23 PM

    Great way of walking through the process, and yep, it's much like this.

    ReplyDelete
  11. StephanieJune 8, 2011 at 2:24 PM

    Great movie...great post!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  12. E. ArroyoJune 8, 2011 at 2:25 PM

    LOL. I love this movie.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Tere KirklandJune 8, 2011 at 2:33 PM

    Haven't seen the movie yet, but those stages are definitely familiar... ;)

    ReplyDelete
  14. UnknownJune 8, 2011 at 4:41 PM

    Fantastic take on the first draft. At the moment I'm at the my story hates me phase... I'm sure I'll get through it though.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Kathi Oram PetersonJune 8, 2011 at 9:19 PM

    Fun stuff! Loved the movie.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Faith KingJune 13, 2012 at 11:25 AM

    LOL! This made my day, even if I am almost exactly one year late. I'm a Tangled nutcase and also a writer who goes through all of this. How did you know?

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anstice BrownJanuary 28, 2014 at 4:48 PM

    This is brilliant. I love Tangled and you explained the writing process perfectly!

    ReplyDelete

Add your awesome here: