After submitting my entry for National Arts Council's 2011 Golden Point Short Story competition, I stood at outside the entrance and it was poetically drizzling. I knew that I would not be shortlisted for any prizes. But then again, I knew that a week ago. Somewhere between rewriting another 5,000 words of utter frustration and researching for my school assignment which was another 2K, I had almost gave up. Why bother when you know you won't win anything? The idea of my story was interesting to begin with (Honeymooners caught in zombie apocalypse), but a test-read with pals on the first draft have shown that it was illogical, poorly executed, possessed zero character sympathies and was structurally messy (like my room). Why bother to continue something so miserable and unsalvagable, wasting both time and effort?
One has to start somewhere, innit?
As I stood in the Mountbattenian drizzle, I knew that I have won, well, metaphorically just by sticking with it. I have learned so much, I suspected far more that what costly writing classes could offer. And there in the drizzle when everything was done and sealed, when I was expected to go back to the mundane and predictable routines of my daily life, because I have 'unclogged my pipes', 'got it out of my system', 'pre-middle age crisis' or 'skeletons put to rest' – envisioning pallbearers lowering down a tiny coffin filled with my manuscript, word processor and Thesaurus into a shallow grave and the priest had said something about moving on and being in a better place, probably in investment banking...
I was already thinking of my next story.
Over the week, I have learned three important things on writing:
The First Step
I find that rushing through the entire manuscript in a week is the 2nd most painful process in writing. The real torture is taking the first step to write. I took over ten days just to draft out the first 2K of the first act of my first draft. I was having writer's block even before I begin. It was the phase where you planned and panned out everything; creating an unbelievable universe and a-dozen-a dime entities and tried to fit a rectangle into a circle with unoriginal hearsay and inspirations, stuffing them in as if you are heading for the Caribbeans and you ending up loathing whatever you wrote, even it was only a paragraph.
Then, it got better. Act 2 and the final act just took me under 3 days. It goes to show once you pack enough in your trunk: your characters, their background, your theme focus, and with enough fuel: plot, endings and writing pace, the road is a much easier one.
Well, at least until you show your manuscript to other people for test-read, and watch your car crash and burn or worse – arrived at the same place it had departed.
Test-Read
Stephen King called them the Constant Readers or the Ideal Reader, which consisted mainly of his wife, Tabitha and college professors. I sent my first draft out to friends I think would read my stuff, and the response was surprisingly good, considering that it was a zombie fiction.
Someone had said that 'All first draft is shit'. It's true that one always most certainly cannot use the first draft for publication. (First draft is like bread, after a few days it gets moldy) But remember that always go back to your first draft for for the essences, if you will, the first spark. Rewriting drafts after drafts, especially with a dateline would drive desperate ones to resort plastering successful but unoriginal formulas, making over your story to the point that it have lose all meaning and intentions that YOU originally have. This is when writing becomes a chore.
Knowing that the first draft is just a plain showcase of my ideas in the rawest form, I wrote it fast , throwing in whatever first sparks I had (it looked silly during the test-read especially it's a zombie fiction for a nationwide competition), but nonetheless I know what the essences are: Marriage and Horror.
Test-read results and Benefits –
Vimcent Tan: 75% zombies and 25% marriage.
Though short, it was very helpful in adjusting the weightage of my focus.
Mark Song: It needed a climax.
How could I have trapped a newlywed in a tiny room with one of them infected and not given them the climax that the tension had been building the readers for?
It made me re-looked in the whole design of the flow.
Benjamin Cheah: Attacked the logic of my plot, poking holes through them and pointed out its absurdity.
It gave me the wake up call I needed to go back to the writing board.
Ezekiel Kok: “Bro, erm... Maybe you shouldn't keep using Lee did this and Lee did that while there is only one person in that scene, just use the word 'she' is enough.”
I have to admit that it was my habit to exchange using 'Lee' and 'she' to break the monotonous of description that I have not considered that it could be demeaning to the readers. Plus, for the intensity of trapping a newlywed in the same room, using 'he' and 'she' amplify that they are truly alone, maybe even as the last two persons on earth in this undead onslaught.
Owen Tan: English. Rushed down to pass me the work he revised.
It was quite a pity that we could not grab a coffee and discuss the story in length which would be very helpful considering that he had wrote fiction for many years. Still, I was touched that he did popped by to support me.
HL was very understanding when I had requested some time-off from baby-sitting to write, thus I was able to spend the last three days alone finishing the final product in peace. She had never been a fan of my work, or fiction or even reading, but had offered to join the test-read. The most bizarre thing was she was liked my first draft so much (she actually burst into tears at the ending) that she had refused to read the rewrote editions when she knew that the ending had to be changed. On top of that, at the day of submission, she was still complaining that I should have wrote in the first ending which involve the husband, Png leaving his wife because he was infected and his wife Lee, decided not to be rescued by the army, instead went off to find Png, leaving a open but hopeful ending. Wifey's obsessions with endings had schooled me that ending management is a whole art by itself and often it can make and break the story.
Wei Cong had stayed up for a few nights to scrutinize the story with me. Often he had popped his head by to ask about the progress or to reread the latest versions. He highlighted that I had not fleshed out my characters, the story lacked of emotional connectivity, the action sequences short of adrenaline rush, the dialogue was without intelligence and plot was too predictable especially for a zombie fiction. Thus any revamp done towards the draft had targeted towards the five elements aforementioned. He had advised me against 'weaponizing' stuff. Usually the act two of any zombie fiction was to find a weapon; from baseball bat, crowbar, chainsaw, shotguns to Molotov cocktails. “No need to weaponize stuff, this will really push them into a corner of desperation.” He grinned.
The test-read was a very valuable exercise because sometimes you are too deep in your own story you are blind to your flaws and even turn defensive either because you are too tired, too struck or too rushed. A reader's eye and a plain advice are always good to help break away the mold, and sometimes even break you out from a tight corner. After all, you are not writing to keep in a safe box so that you can read to yourself, like Lee Harper. You are writing for people to read. So write and show em'!
Bullocks' Bank
The first thing I thought of, standing in the Mountbattenian rain was finding the next contest to join. Then I realized that since I'm going to do this for awhile, it could be useful to build up a story bank or if you will, bullocks' bank. This will eliminate a huge part of the planning stage where I will have to come out with new ideas each time I see a gig. Just make a withdrawal from the bullocks' bank and 'ka-ching!' You already have a head-start.
Alright, signing off now. Gotta get some sleep, change some diapers, read and dream of ridonkulus tales. A big thank you to those who took time to read my story and provided pointers. And oh, sorry to Png and Lee for locking you two in a room and in my head for weeks. Take a break, it's your honeymoon after all.
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