The author of the legendary “scariest book ever written”
passed away January 12th, 2017.
For
nearly four decades he regretted a key aspect of the publication of his
celebrated novel, The Exorcist.
Having run out of
time and funds, he turned in his first and only draft. This is the book The Exorcist as published in 1971.
The author is William Peter
Blatty and he collected his fee from Harper & Row and began a new project.
No time or enough money, no chance to revise. He sold the book and went back to
Hollywood. Yet by the time the book was published, Blatty was critically admired
and commercially rewarded.
In 1968 the author was between
jobs, alone with his research, writing for the better part of a year. The Exorcist was eventually published and
adapted for the screen in 1973. Its status and influence throughout pop culture
surpass even Star Wars in its
influence and versatility.
And the novel exists because
of how Blatty produced his first draft.
Incidentally, it was 2010
before Blatty was revising and supplementing a Fortieth Anniversary Edition. He
regards that version as a superior work but for our purposes we will be focusing
on the novel as it was originally published.
It is important to
understand when we use the term first
draft we mean the first draft
submitted for review. The writer should submit a completed draft, one that
has exhausted the author’s ability to remain objective and find mistakes. That
is why even in workshop it is wasteful to submit unfinished work.
The
following we will discuss how to write a solid first draft with Blatty’s
efficiency.
Before William Peter Blatty
was the Academy Award Winning writer of The
Exorcist book (1971) and film (1973) he authored a few short novels, such
as Twinkle, Twinkle “Killer” Kane
(1960), an existential comedy about faith. Blatty was a gifted humorist
enthralled with the great mysteries he studied at Georgetown University.
While his novels were
admired, it was the $10,000 he won as a contestant on Groucho Marx’s You Bet Your Life in 1961 that gave him
the financial freedom to write full time. Before this he’d had a variety of
jobs – most notably as the top dog of the Navy’s Psychological Warfare Division.
Blatty paid the bills by
penning screenplays for Blake Edward’s hysterical “Pink Panther” sequel, A Shot in the Dark (1964), and Edwards’s
What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?
(1966). It was while separated from his wife, typing away in Angela Lansbury’s
guest house, that he wrote the first draft of The Exorcist in roughly 9 months.
He collected his fee and
submitted the draft to his publisher moving on to write the script for a Paul
Newman picture that was never filmed. By 1971 The Exorcist was published and Blatty went from a writer of smart
comedies to the forerunner of occult thrillers. He adapted his book for William
Friedkin’s film, winning the academy award, and as producer earned the Golden
Globe for Best Picture.
The success of The Exorcist allowed Blatty to focus on
the works he wanted to write, reworking “Killer”
Kane as The Ninth Configuration (1978)
which he adapted for the screen and directed in 1980. His follow-up to Exorcist was Legion (1983) and in 1990 he was directing again, adapting Legion as Exorcist III.
So
what’s all this have to do with YOU and how YOU can write a first draft like William
Peter Blatty?
Groucho Marx is not going to
give you $10,000 so you can quit your job and write. And you probably won’t be
getting a free ride to Georgetown University, so we will focus on those things that only you can control and do for yourself.
RESEARCH.
This novel was prepared as if it were nonfiction. Literally. The book was
conceived as an apostolic work to prove the Devil exists and therefore God
exists.
Secondly, Blatty treated
writing like a job. Whether he was producing screenplays in Hollywood or
indulging his passion projects in the hills, he was always writing.
Third, he incorporated
his experiences into the novel.
We
have established that Blatty rented a small cabin just for writing. This is
vital. If one drafts a house or types a legal document they need the proper
space to produce. When it comes to creating you must commit to being as focused
on the task as possible.
After
several false starts in a beach house, rewriting the opening sentence of The Exorcist for two weeks, Blatty found
the seagulls irritating and sought a quieter home. Upon discovering the small Hollywood
cabin, Blatty rented the quiet space and realized why he was stuck on the first
sentence.
He
was starting in the wrong place.
Your opening is imperative when your
content suggests the occult. Not only must you
acknowledge the fantastic elements immediately but in the case of Father
Merrin, the book’s Exorcist, you must introduce your characters before the story’s structure reveals
itself.
Father
Merrin does not actively join the narrative until the final act. Blatty
understood that he must introduce the exorcist’s relationship with the demon in
the first pages. While some bemoan the opening as slow, without it the rhythm
of the book would be sloppy, as if the author had to invent and insert a
character for the final confrontation to be resolved.
By
setting up Father Merrin and the demon Pazuzu in the beginning the resolution
is organic, natural – so that it feels
authentic, real. Writing without an outline, Blatty had to have is
possession research memorized and on-hand. He also had to have an immersed
familiarity with his characters and the Georgetown setting.
At
this stage, Blatty still didn’t have his story. All he knew was there would be
a young girl who exemplified signs of demonic possession. The book was
initially going to be a nonfiction work, but lacking the expertise and firsthand
experience Blatty retrofitted his research to a fictional narrative.
That
brings us back to the most important aspect of writing your first draft like William
Peter Blatty:
RESEARCH.
While
attending the Jesuit-funded Georgetown University in 1950, young Bill Blatty
heard a startling argument for Faith. The priest instructing class introduced
an article from the year before about a young boy who had been possessed. It
was national news and authenticated by the Catholic Church.
This
haunted Blatty for the next 18 years. He studied witchcraft, telekinesis, and
the history of demonic possession as documented by the Church.
To accumulate research and execute his
draft, Blatty was not only actively present but he was also enthusiastic about
his experiences in Georgetown and used this enthusiasm to pen realistic
circumstances.
As
writers, we won’t be stirred if we are not actively seeking out and following
those things that excite us. The master, whether he be carpenter or artist, is
actively present in his world. It was this active presence that allowed Blatty to
effectively incorporate the Georgetown campus and landmarks into his story.
Which
brings us to why The Exorcist is so good: it’s rooted in reality – it feels real.
While
writing away from his family 18 hours a day, Blatty was interrupted at 10 in
the evening to learn that his mother had passed. Some of the best sections of
the novel deal with Father Karras, whose guilt turns to a loss of faith when
his immigrant mother dies in poverty. Clearly the real-life loss of his mother
and the separation from his wife had a profound psychological effect on Blatty
and these emotions where transferred to the page – most likely with little
imagination required.
Imagination can be great but don’t
depend on it. Imagination can be extremely self-indulgent, boring.
Blatty
had taken nearly a year to get The
Exorcist, his pet project, an apostolic work meant to illustrate God’s love
for his creation, from his mind to the page.
By
the time he had the first draft finished it resembled something closer to a horrific
detective story. Blatty has stated that he started the book with no idea of how
it would end. Despite this, the rough-around-the-edges ‘feeling’ helps to
ground the book in reality, thus making it scarier.
That’s
something else I would like to mention: because of the individuality of all the
characters and Blatty’s firsthand knowledge of the locations – this book does
not feel like fantasy. Don’t forget that Blatty had also studied exorcism for
almost two decades. This allowed him to write a high concept book that
illustrates ‘if demonic possession
really happened this is how it would go down.’
Blatty
submitted his draft, thankful for the year he had to write it but also ready to
move on. Yes, he got very lucky, but that luck would be meaningless if he
hadn’t done the following:
RESEARCH,
have it at your disposal and in your mind so that you can write without having
to stop to investigate and look things up.
KNOW YOUR CHARACTERS, be
present at work and in your interactions with people. Notice the quirks and annoying
habits of your friends, strange patterns of speech unique to them. Some readers
complain that the characters in the Exorcist are annoying. They truly are in
some respects and this is what makes them feel so real.
KNOW YOUR LOCATIONS,
too often great writers are describing two people surrounded by four walls with
cliché dialogue bouncing back and forth. We get the impression the author
doesn’t know any more about the location than we do and what should have been a
masterful scene reads like something written for Alfred Hitchcock Presents … were the teleplay would do well to
stick to general settings that the art director can piece together a satisfying
decor later.
BE PRESENT, BE HAPPY,
program yourself to get excited over nuances in speech and body language. Keep
your ear open for new details that will expand your personal philosophy. Being
a writer is like creating your own religion where you are free to mix and match
elements from all over existence into your own personal world. What we think of
as the ultimate horror novel was really William Peter Blatty trying to prove/disprove
demonic possession. His research not only enhance his faith but produced a
novel that I believe will be known by later (more desensitized) generations as
a theological work.
Perhaps
the greatest Christian novel ever written.
Now, get to writing but don’t forget
your research!
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