CYD 2012 : Author Advice with Tera Lynn Childs : First Draft - Embrace The Suckage
Today we're really excited to have the lovely Tera Lynn Childs to impart her experience with first drafts.
There is something magical about the time I work on a book before I start writing. I call it the honeymoon phase, because at that point everything seems perfect. All the ideas and characters and story arcs I have planned are impeccable in my mind. It’s a critically-acclaimed bestseller, for sure. And then, something awful happens. I start writing.
The moment I put the first word on the first page of the first draft, the honeymoon is over and the hard work begins. There is a kind of disillusionment that happens as words start filling the pages. The flaws in the story and my personal writing weaknesses show up, destroying this perfect mental image of the book that was in my mind.
This is why first drafts are so very hard. As writers, we aren’t perfect. We can’t be stellar at every single element of writing, and certainly not on the very first try. Between character and dialogue and theme and story and world and emotion and language and action and twists and hooks and oh-so-many other things that make up a book, there is bound to be an area-or six-where you struggle.
With a few books under my belt, I know that I’m strong in dialogue and world building, but weak in plotting, description, and theme. I give myself permission to let those weaknesses suck big time in the first draft, knowing I can go back in revisions and fix them. Otherwise, I’d never get past page one.
Giving yourself permission to suck is a critical part of writing a first draft. Not only does that free you up to finish the book without obsessing over every single word, but I can almost guarantee that when you go back and read the finished product, it won’t be nearly as bad as you thought.
That’s part of the writer’s neurosis. And, as much as it feels emotionally unhealthy at time, I truly believe that we have to fear the worst in order to produce our best. If I thought everything I wrote was awesome on the first try, then what motivation would I have to make it even better?
While you’re writing your first draft, keep these three things in mind:
1. You’re going to think your writing sucks, and that’s a good thing.
2. Your writing doesn’t suck nearly as badly as you think, and even if it does you can fix it later.
3. Every single writer, from an unpublished newbie penning her first story to a multi-published bestselling master, feels exactly the same way.
The point is, you have to keep writing. You have to finish the draft, learn more about your characters and the journey they’re on, so you can fix it in revisions. You have to go through the fear and the tears and the self-doubt, because that’s part of the process of becoming a writer. And, no matter how many books we have under our belts, we’re all still in the process of becoming a writer. The first draft is just the first of many steps.
Now get busy and finish that book!
Tera Lynn Childs is the award-winning author of the mythology-based young adult novels OH. MY. GODS. and GODDESS BOOTCAMP (from Dutton Children's Books), the mermaid novels FORGIVE MY FINS and FINS ARE FOREVER. You can read more about her at her blog.
Remember annemariewrites will have another awesome guest post up on her LJ tomorrow and I will have the lovely Sheila A Nielson author of FORBIDDEN SEA over for a chat on Saturday.