Another thing I’ve come to realise lately is that I need to change my way of thinking about writing the first draft of a work. At least, as far as of the House Valerius pieces (books and short stories) are concerned.
Recently, while I’m struggling with my self-imposed monthly goal of 20,000 words; it feels like I’m spending too much time trying to get what words I am putting down just right than I am in just getting as much down as I can. Which of course means that I’m way off track for reaching that goal. So, in an effort to combat this, I decided I would look up what some professional authors had to say on the subject of first drafts.
This one may not have much to do with the actual process of writing the draft I’ve included it here because I do think it’s true for me. I’ve said before that, at most, I’ve worked from a fairly loose outline. As a result, it’s allowed me to discover characters and events as I get carried along.
While destroy it may be a bit harsh, it does feel like I’m getting bogged down, and losing any sense of immediacy to the work. It also tends to leave it feeling a bit disjointed, thanks to the constant stop-start, stop-start; rather than having a consistent flow to it.
Well, I never have any difficulty believing this is true of mine. Which is probably why I spend too much time trying to polish what I have instead of continuing to move forward. I need to accept Papa’s advice here, accept that I’m never going to be happy with the first version. But that’s okay.
Which leads me to…
As before, I need to accept that I’m not going to be satisfied with the initial version. But rather than pausing and trying to fix it there and then, I should push forward until I have a full manuscript. Then, and only then, go back and tidy it up.
Some things for me to take to heart, and some to put into practice.
The Scribblings 