The Writer’s Journey: A Bridge to Somewhere

Today is Day 15 of the Zero Draft Thirty Challenge which means we are officially HALFWAY through it. Here is my statistical impression of where we are as a group:

* 5% of us have finished a Zero Draft. Congratulations! You can spend the rest of the time revising your draft, moving it toward a First Draft.

* 62.5% of us are somewhere in the muddle… er, middle of the Zero Draft process.

* 29.749% of us got started, then have faaaaaddddeeeeddddd aawwwwwwwaaayyyy…………..

* 14.7% of us are still sleeping.

* 32% of us are searching for the damn coffee filters.

* 99.9% of us are wondering if what we’ve written is any good or not.

Hmm. That adds up to way more than 100%, doesn’t it? Well, never was very good at math which is one good reason I became a writer!

I’d like to address my comments today at that group somewhere in the middle of the process and to do so by sharing an anecdote.

When I spent three years getting a Masters of Divinity degree from Yale University, my parents were living in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Rather than go through Baltimore, Washington D.C., and Richmond to go back and forth to New Haven, I would use the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, saving about 2 hours of drive time. It is 17.6 miles long. Check out the photo of it below:

When you are in the middle of the trip across that tunnel, there is a most unnerving experience: You cannot see land. Anywhere. You are on a bridge. Traveling across the Atlantic Ocean. There is road ahead of you. Road behind you. But nowhere any sign of land.

I often recall that experience when I am writing the second act of my screenplays, especially those disturbing moments when the Voices Of Negativity put me in a state where I’m asking, “Where the hell am I going with this story?” It’s akin to not being able to see land anywhere. I left Act One, but that was long ago. And Act Three, nowhere to be found on the distant horizon.

However there’s this: I am on a bridge. It stretches out before me. If I continue on the bridge, I trust that EVENTUALLY I will see land.

As a metaphor, that means the story is there. The component parts may be difficult to see at any given point, particularly getting to and through Act Three, but they are THERE.

All I need to do is keep driving… keep writing.

Moreover there’s this: I have driven on this ‘bridge’ many times before. And I’ve always found my way to the end. So in my most discombobulated moments where I’m even doubting this bridge leads somewhere, I can lean on my personal history as a writer: If I just keep moving forward, I will reach my destination.

So today is a day to recommit to the Challenge. You’re on a bridge. You may not be able to see land anywhere. But that bridge is a path forward.

Just keep driving.
Just keep writing.
Just keep moving forward.

How about you? Whether you are participating in the Zero Draft Thirty Challenge or not, do you feel like you’re on a bridge to nowhere? Or can you see land at the end of your writing journey?

Onward!

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