The Napkin Draft
My friends know that I constantly write, both as a job and for fun. When I'm not writing I get cranky and anxious. But when I am writing I become anti-social and weird. Not really a win-win.
Anyway, last night I went out to dinner--which, believe me, is much safer than eating anything I cook--and while I was there I had a sudden burst of inspiration for the new book I'm working on. (Adult this time!) I grabbed my kid's crayon and wrote it down on the restaurant napkin, spewing everything that came to mind. When I ran out of space, I took my son's napkin and added. This all went down AS WE WERE EATING. I didn't end up finishing my dinner.
This may sound like odd behavior, but it happens all the time. Maybe that's why I like to go out to eat so much. Maybe I purposely cook awful food so that I have an excuse to go to the Spaghetti Factory and brainstorm. Maybe.
So as I sat around today, transcribing my napkin draft onto the computer, I thought about it. Pretty much every book I write is partly written on napkins. In fact, I took a picture of a recent one--and this is not a book you know about--that ended up turning into an 85k-word draft. All from a napkin. Actually, I think there were three or four napkins, a back of an envelope and a place mat.
Here's a picture with spoilers cut out:
Am I alone in this? Do you have napkin drafts too?
Anyway, last night I went out to dinner--which, believe me, is much safer than eating anything I cook--and while I was there I had a sudden burst of inspiration for the new book I'm working on. (Adult this time!) I grabbed my kid's crayon and wrote it down on the restaurant napkin, spewing everything that came to mind. When I ran out of space, I took my son's napkin and added. This all went down AS WE WERE EATING. I didn't end up finishing my dinner.
This may sound like odd behavior, but it happens all the time. Maybe that's why I like to go out to eat so much. Maybe I purposely cook awful food so that I have an excuse to go to the Spaghetti Factory and brainstorm. Maybe.
So as I sat around today, transcribing my napkin draft onto the computer, I thought about it. Pretty much every book I write is partly written on napkins. In fact, I took a picture of a recent one--and this is not a book you know about--that ended up turning into an 85k-word draft. All from a napkin. Actually, I think there were three or four napkins, a back of an envelope and a place mat.
Here's a picture with spoilers cut out:
Am I alone in this? Do you have napkin drafts too?
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