Lessons From MS #1

Hey lovely awesome people who follow this blog! I'm really sorry that I haven't updated in a while. I've always known that there are a lot of things to juggle as a writer--the drafting itself, the editing, the network/platform building, etc. But now I'm finally feeling the difficulty of managing all of these components myself. And I was never one for juggling :( (There will be a post on the art of multitasking as a writer because it DEFINITELY is an art).

But, as my CP's and other writer friends suggested, I do have a twitter now (do not worry, I will survive!). I probably won't be one of those 24/7 tweeters--I'll mainly be using it to stalk my CP's and look up agents and fawn over authors.

So, I haven't actually had the time to write a new post, but here is one that I've written before, just haven't posted :)

Lessons I've learned from MS #1 (current status-complete and trunked):

1. Don't write too fast

This one is huge for me. Unfortunately, it would be dishonest for me to say that I LOVE editing, that I dream about editing, that I can't wait to finish my story so that I can tear it apart. I know that editing is essential. But it doesn't mean that I like it. Editing is scary. What if I change something that semi-worked into something that completely does not work? What if I realize that a whole chapter, a whole character, a whole scene does not work? What if I realize that the whole book has a weak plot? Editing is like deboning a fish (not that I've ever dbeoned a fish, but I've seen others do it). Removing bones is good. But when I'm faced with removing the whole spine, I waver. You see, the fish falls apart without the spine. When I realized that novel #1 essentially had no plot, I knew I was facing the dreaded spine debonement. I backed away.

For me, momentum is really important. I need to have hope. I need to at least have a vision that in the end, everything will be okay. If I write/spew a mess (and I am VERY good at spewing and being wordy) and then look back at the mess, I tend to lose sight of hope. Then, I can't get my head into the editing. It's kind of like giving critique. The best critique is honest but also delivered in a way that avoids triggering the writer to shut down. The best kind of first draft that I personally find beneficial is one that I took the time to make sure that the basic structure has some shape and is workable.

All first drafts suck but I do cope better with a first draft that is less sucky than super super sucky.

2. Don't be afraid to delete writing

I used to see my writing as gold. Or chocolate. Or insert anything that is valuable. Every single character, word, paragraph I wrote was valuable because I had put in brain juice, time, and tears (okay, not the tears..most of the time). So accordingly, I would be very reluctant to delete any of my writing, even if I knew that it didn't work. Chunks of writing not working is inevitable. No matter how struct of an outliner you are (and I'm not), your plot is going to start to breathe and come to life the more you write. And hopefully, your characters will start to change, develope, grow. That's a good thing. But the bad thing is that scenes that you've written before might not work quite as well. For me, writing is one long road trip. When I look back, I can see the palces where the plot/writing meanders from the best and most concise path. So delete! When you gut tells you to delete, delete. When you delete is up to you. Sometimes, I delete as I go. Just make sure that you don't get caught in a cycle of deleting and rewriting. Delete the extraneous parts and move on or delete and then rewrite and move on. Just keep on chugging. Of course, when you are done you'll want to go back to make sure that your writing and scenes are as tight as possible.

I know I dreamed of MS #1 being the one that might someday be published. Who knows, maybe a few years from now I'll go back to it and rewrite it. But I do remember how disappointed I was when I had the epiphany that it needed major overhauling and how I retreated from writing for a month or so afterwards. I got so hung up over how I felt cheated of time and effort that I forgot that I love telling stories and putting them on paper. As someone who likes to set goals and work toward them, I think I'll always run the risk of experiencing that empty feeling of I can't believe I have to give up. Goals are good, but what I've learned with writing is that although sometimes you don't always get what you expected out of your work, you will always get something. Whether that be a great character or plot that you can revamp or recycle, or a set of lessons, like me, or great friends that you made along the way, there will always be a thing of value to be gleamed from all that you write. It won't always be a book deal, but you won't have wasted your time.

Comment with the lessons that YOU'VE learned from previous/current MS's!