How could I not have known, you ask? Well, I wrote INCONVENIENT more than three years ago. I did MANY revisions on it–most done while caring for my son who was an infant at the time. If you are or were a new mama, those early months are a BLUR. I remember writing the book, the feelings I felt when writing it. The process? Not so much.

It’s funny, too, because I have written about the writing process (in the abstract), answered questions about how I write, but none of that sparked any memories. And then I started working consistently on the MG. I wanted to meet daily word count so if I was stuck on a scene, I wrote other scenes in my head. I focused on the plot points I saw vividly–no matter where they fell in the book. Out of order was fine. As I wrote more of the scenes that jumped out at me, I got ideas for the scenes I had trouble with and went back to do those. And then something amazing happened. The book just came together! I began to cut/paste the later scenes to where they would fit chronologically and now the novel is pretty much in order. Then, I wrote a short outline of the chapters I have coming up. It’s at this point that I realized this is exactly how I wrote INCONVENIENT.

Now, I’m close to finishing the first draft of the MG, which is a huge accomplishment because I had this fear/stuckedness/anxiety that I wouldn’t be able to write another book after INC. Every time I began something new, I’d write twenty or so pages and then get bored or just not know how to proceed. Now, I know I can do it. And what made this even better was that I now know why my YA WIP–my CONTRACTED WIP, that’s due in November–was not working. Once I’m done with my MG, I’ll go back to that and work on it in the same way. One scene at a time, random order, putting together the parts of the puzzle that I see clearly.

That’s how I do real puzzles, by the way. Do the corners first? Nope, not for me. I put together the pieces in whatever order I want. If I see a picture, that’s what gets done first. On a playdate once, I was helping my son put together a puzzle, and a mom just stared at what I was doing. “Didn’t anyone ever tell you you’re supposed to do the edges first?” she asked. “Don’t remember,” I said. “But what does it matter if it gets you to the same place?”

Yesterday, I got a break when my sitter came by, and I thought about writing because I have a contracted WIP and an MG I’d like to get to my agent by the summer, but I only had an hour-and-a-half and just couldn’t get into it. So I started thinking about the toilet training and writing and rough drafts and realized they have tons in common! Below is my top 7 list of how writing a rough draft is like toilet training. OK…drum roll and music please.

7. If it doesn’t work the first time, keep trying.

6. Sometimes it’s best to take a break, destress, and then start the anew.

5. Rewards are great for motivation.

4. You put off starting the process because what’s to come is pretty daunting.

3. You may have to push awhile before anything good happens.

2. Even when you think it’s all done, it may be months before the final result is achieved.

AND THE NUMBER 1 REASON WRITING A ROUGH DRAFT IS LIKE TOILET TRAINING:

….No matter how good you think it’s going, there’s going to be poop to clean up in the end.