Spirit Foul: The Fight for Ultimate’s Soul (tentative)
Grace asked a little while ago that I put a completion percentage on our kitchen whiteboard. I thought it was an awesome idea. Totally qualitative, it allows me to silently keep the other literate member of my household up-to-date, as well as hold me accountable, and motivated. Today I proudly erased the 85% I had written on the whiteboard yesterday, and confidently put a big 90%. Is it correct? Maybe.
That’s right! I think I’m 90% done… with my rough draft. I hit a snag over Thanksgiving break. My writing slowed and got more painful. I was really trudging through it. I had to take a break and spent a long afternoon on a big planning session- there were too many details to iron out that I had left open. Spirit Foul, the working title of the book, follows a college Ultimate team. I’m writing it sequentially, meaning I started in the fall and will end in the spring. This is only relevant so I can say that I was really struggling with the timing and pacing of the spring semester. I knew where I wanted to get, but keeping the plot on schedule and interesting through their winter and spring break was a challenge.
Wait Zack, you might be thinking. Shouldn’t spring break be awesome to write? There are so many things you could touch on! So many Ultimate stories out there waiting to be represented. Myths, legends, rumor of unbelievable acts you could write. Don’t worry, anonymous reader, I do, I do. I won’t lie and say I didn’t enjoy the hell out of writing a few scenes. But it’s been challenging. For a book that covers a school year, how do I adequately space out the time spent on spring break? The team is together every single day. Is it appropriate to skip a day with a quick recap? So much can happen in a day!
I haven’t mentioned that I accomplished my goal of 50,000 words by the end of November. Piece of cake. (Not really). I see it as a milestone crossed. More words than I’ve ever written in a month, hands down. But I’ve got to get this book done! And between 50% to 90% it was a slog. In the trenches. Me, wrapped in a blanket, hot coffee close by, sun still yet to rise, going to war every morning with these punk college degenerates, addicted to throwing, catching, chasing plastic. I really battled. Some days it wasn’t enjoyable. How could people enjoy reading my work if I wasn’t enjoying its creation?
I almost started editing. Almost. As you do, I’ve started consuming some of the plethora of Writer’s Content there is on our great wide web. “Finish the book!” they all tell you. “Don’t even think about editing, motherfucker,” “get the rough draft done, you’ll gain momentum to carry you through the finish.” I’ve avoided dwelling on the written, starting every morning by looking forward. At 90%, I am approaching scenes I’ve thought about throughout the entire process. I am excited, the light is at the end of the tunnel. Soon I will have a rough draft.
What then? A self edit to manifest a first draft, including my first full read through. As I learned, I will probably wait to attack spelling and grammar, sentence structure and the other typical battle grounds of English teachers, at least for the first draft. There’s time for that. No, what’s more important is to make sure I have the book laid out correctly. Do scenes need to be moved around? Do some scenes need to be axed, rewritten for something better? Do I need more or different characters? (Resoundingly YES. I haven’t written enough women-matching players on my college Ultimate team. A classic problem in real AND fictional Ultimate, apparently.)
Today I sit at 66,000 words (~3hr 40m read for a typical reader of 300 words per minute. Neat!) I’ve mostly kept pace from November, a little over 2k wds/day. I am so excited to get this into the hands of Beta readers, and I’m hopeful I can get something I’m pleased with before the end of the year!
Also thinking about what’s to come. I’ve been so enveloped in this book I haven’t posted much, and haven’t written much beyond this. I have a draft post waiting to be finished. Something strange has happened while I work on this book, for a long time after college I had fallen out of love with Ultimate. Since one of my story’s main goals is to describe why so many people fall in love with Ultimate, I’ve incidentally found myself coming back around. I’ve watched highlights, looked up stats, and even put on a few marquis games during workouts. Will I become a full on fan again?
I’m still hoping a self-published Saga de Hotonoma will be out into the world before 2023.
Thinking about a story in Covidia that I will write and post in 500 to 1,000 word, bite-sized vignettes. The sum total will encompass a larger, grander story, but each will stand on their own. Just what I’m thinking. Fear not, I’m still working hard to deliver. I’m in far too deep at this point!
Love,
Z