I’ve been working on my first novel on and off since January of last year. I began without an outline; I just started writing the story that seemed to have materialized out of nowhere. This went well. Until it didn’t. Ultimately I had no idea where the story was going or how to get there.
Wish I’d seen this advice earlier…
On a wing and a prayer, I signed up for an intensive five-week writing class in February, which was the first best thing I did for my writing. When it was over, I began the book in earnest and worked on it until sometime in May. Then, like a lot of writers (I’m told), I set about polishing the first chapter to a fare-thee-well. Oy.
Frustrated at my inability to move forward, in May I finally just set the work aside. I didn’t return to it until nearly Christmas. That’s a lot of “off” in the on and off.
I left it to percolate in my head. And in my dreams. Some mornings I awaken with whole scenes tightly drawn, dialogue fully formed, and character insights that escaped me during daylight hours. When I do, I rush to my laptop – before morning coffee! – to prevent it from vanishing into the morning mist.
Some scenes are just that – isolated bits and pieces that I’m not even sure will ever make it into the story. Others are full chapters, two and three thousand words long. A recovering perfectionist, I fight with myself to “write fast, write badly,” just get it down now! There is always time for editing. I’m getting better at this day by day.
The next “best thing” I did for my writing was to join a local writers group. In addition to a warm and supportive atmosphere – and plenty of tough-love critiquing – I find it incredibly motivating to have people waiting to hear from me every Saturday morning. I feel guilty if I come to writers group with nothing to read, so almost no Saturday goes by without me reading. Yes, I wanted to throw up the first time I put myself and my work out there in that way; we all did. We all got over it.
A friend from writer’s group very generously shared the best piece of writing advice I’ve received to date, which in turn was given to her a long time ago as she struggled with the same perfectionism. A mentor said to her, “Are you a writer or an editor? Decide now.” I have since made those words my screen saver, as a reminder.
I am a writer.
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