First Drafts

I was talking to a dear friend of mine tonight who is tackling the task of writing her first novel. She is an avid reader and she is also very artistic in many other ways but has never written anything. The book she is writing is a YA fiction and I gotta say that I think she has a best seller on her hands. Sshhh--don`t tell anyone I said that; I`m the only friend of hers who has read the partial manuscript. 

We walk together in the evening oftentimes and as we walked she said to me, "I`m stuck, I can`t quite get my plot going in this next chapter." Now, I know my friend very well and she is, as am I, a perfectionist to the 'T' and won`t cut herself a break. I asked her if it was because it wasn`t perfect enough. As we walked and I asked her that question, she stopped...put her hands on her hips--you know,like she was fixin to cuss me out--and then smiled and began walking again. She knew I had a point. My point was this: You have to re-write to get to the creative perfection you want. 

I remember reading Anne Lamott`s book "Bird by Bird" and the second or third chapter is entitled "Shitty first drafts"--I know, I hope I can write that here, but that is typical Anne Lamott, if your a fan you know what I mean--and in this chapter she addresses the need for writing, re-writing, and re-writing our re-writing. She talks about the process of the creative flow and how we have to just write, and write, and write--sometimes--just to get that one sentence or even one word that is the catalyst for a great paragraph or chapter. 

Back to my friend:

So, I shared this with her and I could see the lights come on in her creative mind. I remember when I first began writing and this is how it would go: I would write, grammar check, and "Boom" publish it. I remember being pissed off at all the negative feed back I received from readers about my horrible syntax and grammar. At first, I was ignorant as to why writers wasted their time with re-writing. After all, didn`t they know who I was--my talent--I felt so unappreciated. I was under the mistaken impression that I was so good, so talented, such a natural born writer, that I only needed to write once--that was it--check please! 

So, if you are in the same neurotic boat that I was, do yourself a favor--re-write; it really does take all the pressure off of perfectionism. Just because I was not talented enough to write once and only once, it did not mean I sucked as a writer. 

Funny story:

Remembering back as I wrote the last sentence, I was thinking about the early days. I was feeling rather sorry for myself one day because--you guessed it--no one cared what I wrote. I suck. No one reads my stuff like they do other people that are OBVIOUSLY not even close to as good a writer as I am. I was complaining to my then girlfriend about how I came from "Suxville" and I was a horrible writer and no one cared. If you find yourself in this horrible state, here is the answer: Go get some Ben and Jerry`s ice cream...no, just kidding; however, it may well help. Seriously, if you`re at the pity party--table for one--like I was...just keep writing, just keep walking, just keep believing. If you are like most of us who write--its innate--you have to write to breath. Keep writing and re-writing. The audience will come. 

God bless--WP