Comment

Comment by Janice Seagraves on October 6, 2012 at 1:59pm

It's way too easy to fuss over the details before you get the story written. The things is you have to give yourself permission to write a sloppy first draft, and promise your internal editor it can have a crack at the ms after it is finished.

Comment by Diane McElwain on October 3, 2012 at 4:06pm

Wow, sounds just like me.  I edit myself to death!

Comment by Pam McGaffin on October 3, 2012 at 10:51am

Thanks for this. I am an obsessive fusser struggling to write my first novel. I've wasted a lot of time and effort going back and forth, back and forth. I need to remind myself that I have to get to the whole before I can see all the detailed little parts. 

Comment by Kathleen Kern on October 3, 2012 at 5:58am

What's really great is when you're able to let your manuscript sit for a couple months, because then you really see what needs to be changed.  Also sometimes I find that some clunky thing that really obsessed me has an obvious correction, or what I thought was an irredeemable flaw was actually not so bad.

Comment by Julie Luek on October 3, 2012 at 5:00am

I just finished Brenda Ueland's 1938 book, "If You Want to Write: A Book About Art, Independence and Spirit".  In it she encourages: "Don't be afraid of yourself when you write.  Don't check-rein yourself.  If you are afraid of being sentimental, say, for heaven's sake be as sentimental as you can or feel like being!  Then you will probably pass through to the other side and slough off sentimentality because you understand it at last and don't really care about it."  

First drafts,I believe, were meant to be written with reckless abandon, free of fear.  The self-checks can be made in the editing.  Congratulations on setting and achieving such a great writing goal!

Comment by Peg Herring on October 3, 2012 at 3:45am

So true! It's why all those people with a book in their heads will never get it on paper (or screen, in the modern world). I find when I've pushed through and finished the major storyline, everything else gets clearer: how that character needs to be set up, how foreshadowing can work, and what subplots can add to the suspense. I also find the editing part fun...at least when there isn't a deadline clouding the computer monitor!

Comment by Daphne Q on October 2, 2012 at 7:13pm

Hi, Maria... thanks for posting this. You are so right. Fortunately, I got this advice from a professor before I started my first draft. Not worrying about the "wordsmithing" made it a lot easier to get that first draft completed. That draft wasn't great, but it was something to work with.

Comment by Virginia Llorca on October 2, 2012 at 6:24pm

I don't do much tweaking but a lot of correcting.  Putting my doc on my Kindle gives a nice fresh view.  I am always rereading my own stuff, and I just saw in the latest I used the word consider three times in one paragraph.  No, I don't  spend much time belaboring it.  It kind of pours out too fast.

Comment by Robin Levin on October 2, 2012 at 5:03pm

I agree, Maria,

The important thing is to get that first draft done, then you can refine it at your leisure. If you can afford it, it is nice to have a good editor who can point out mistakes and suggest better wording. It's always a good idea to have a few beta readers to point out any  problems that you may have overlooked.

Perhaps the greatest perfectionist was Virgil, who was considered to be one of the best writers of all time. He was constantly revising and fussing over his work and would not consider releasing it until it was absolutely perfect. But Virgil had wealthy patrons and a household of slaves who saw to his every need. The rest of us have lives. We need to use our time as effeciently as possible.

Comment by Cheryl Iadonisi on October 2, 2012 at 12:20pm

Hello Mapia, well said. I've been working on my query for my first novel which is a real challenge, however when wrote the novel. I never once looked back. My characters came to life each and everytime I sat to write. Not only didn't I edit one thing until I completed the novel, I never wrote an outline. Yes, I edit several times over after I finish, but it was well worth the wait. My story took on a life of it's own as I wrote. Some weekends I banged out 10,000 words not realizing I didn't take a break to stop, lol. It was an amazing experience and I can't wait to start the next one.

Cheryl