So y’all know my philosophy toward writing a first draft—get the thing thrown on paper. Don’t stop to edit. Don’t stop to research. Don’t stop to think up last names for these characters, just mark them *** to make later. Just get the first draft done.
So five or six weeks into the process, I have a first draft.
And boy, does it need revising!
I’m now revising my first draft of the Memphis Barbeque series book two. And I’m reading along, thinking that actually, it’s pretty clean. Wow. Maybe, considering this is my 5th book, I’ve gotten this process more down-pat.
Then I read a scene from my WIP and I’m like, “Wait. Didn’t I have this scene ten pages back?”
And I did. Same scene, different words, same concept. Ten pages back.
Whups.
How could this happen? I’m guessing that when I picked up my writing one day (picking up from where I thought I’d left off), I thought I’d brainstormed the concept for the scene instead of actually writing it. But no, I’d already written it.
Just one of the hundred things you catch during the second draft.
I immediately turned on myself. I had been happy with this manuscript and suddenly I was feeling 180 degrees opposite.
Ways to Get Back on Track (and Forget the Screw-ups):
Treat our own writing with some emotional distance. This is hard, but I’ve made it work before. Pretend that what you’re reading is something you’re reviewing for a critique group. Don’t take the errors personally—just fix them.
Reading published books in our genre with a critical eye, highlighter, and red pen. Treat it like English class, keep an emotional distance from it.
Know when enough’s enough. Have you picked your manuscript to death? You’ll know it’s been picked to death if you read through a few passages you’ve just edited and the whole soul of the story is missing. The spark has been edited out. Maybe at this point it’s time to give the manuscript to someone else to look over for you.
Remind yourself that you’re your own worst critic. So many of us are hardest on ourselves than any editor or agent could ever be.
Remember we’re all in this boat together. Are there authors who don’t have a rigorous editing process? If there are any, I don’t know them! We all look at the first draft with some anxiety or disgust. The first draft is what it is…it’s the bones of the story. The most important thing is getting it down on paper.
I do my best revision writing when I’m not picking on myself for whatever mistake I’ve made. By keeping positive and keeping some distance from the manuscript, I’ll make the editing process go a lot smoother.
How do you keep your mistakes in perspective?
Your news is very exciting-first draft.
I just fix them and try not to beat myself up.
Teresa
Elizabeth – Congratulations on getting that first draft done. Keeping mistakes in perspective can really be hard for me, because I’m awfully hard on myself. I do it by waiting after I write before I revise. Even if it’s only for a few days, I find that it’s easier to be objective and not overly hard on myself once the draft has “cooled” for a few days. I’m less emotionally invested then.
Thank you for this most timely of posts. Right now, I am struggling to maintain the balance between wanting to throw the WiP out of the window, and remain objective. To know that someone like you struggles too is a shot in the arm for me.
And I will try to apply your tricks.
Good for you on the first draft. And thanks for this post. I abhor the revision process but it is so important. I need to review this post a few times a day while I’m revising.
I don’t get attached to my words at all, I think it’s more the theme or concept that I care about.
I do need to put time between writing and editing. Only because what I just wrote is fresh in my mind and so that’s what I would come up with again, but given time I might come up with something better. I love editing, I see the story as a puzzle and I have to work out which pieces don’t fit and which ones are missing and how they should all go together.
Emotional distance can be tough. I’ve got an ms marinating because I think I knew the thing word-for-word. Hoping I can see it better when it comes time to read it again.
Bwah ha ha ha ha!
My current draft is full of redundant scenes! The problem is figuring out which version (or which part of which version) is best.
As for keeping positive,that is something I am good at. The key is to always keep in mind “what is fun about this?” You’re writing for you. A rewrite is another excuse to enjoy your character’s predicaments, even if your prose is awful.
When I can’t get into the fun of it, I will pause and try to identify what the mood element I need is, and then I will listen to some music or watch some scenes from movies that reflect that mood or image. Get myself “pumped up” with enthusiasm for the mood of the minute.
I especially like to listen to songs that speak to the voice or mood of the character in the moment. (A young cowboy who has just met the girl he loves may be reflected better by Hermans Hermits than a country song, for instance.)
That is so hard to do! Especially with a first draft. I really struggle with that. I try to get it as solid as possible as I write it. The only downside is that when I find major mistakes, I’m even harder on myself.
I am working so hard at not beating myself up. I’ve spent a lifetime looking at my flaws and feeling bad about me. That continued when I began writing. Now, I am working on acknowledging the successes. It helps accept the mistakes.
karen
Sometimes I just about edit my stories and myself into the ground! I can be ready to hit “send” on an email submission and I’ll find things to change. Thanks for the advice! I’ll re-read this post the next time I start editing :)
I’ve never written the same scene twice, but I certainly identify with the horror! My usual experience is reading certain passages and discovering I’ve used the same word heaven knows how many times. It seems to come in waves.
Disturbing.
The emotional distance point was my favorite. While recently hacking through my drafts, I found doing this to get the best edits from me.
~ Wendy
This is the hardest thing for me. Writing is slow for me, because I have a hard time plowing past crap. I know I should, but I can’t. If it totally stinks- I’m stuck.
Reading helps, praying works, and writing anyway is what I’m learning is the answer.
I’m knee deep in the revision process right now and this post was just what I needed! I have a tendency to be extremely hard on myself when I revise, especially now that I’ve taken about a month’s break from this finished draft. It’s hard for me not to say: “Wow, what made me think this was good?! This is terrible!” and just put myself down like that, so I do need to learn to emotionally distance myself and just get it done sans commentary. Great, great advice that I will take.
I’ve never repeated a scene, but I have repeated a fact or line because I forgot I’d already done so earlier.
I guess fixing stuff doesn’t bother me. I don’t start freaking until after I’ve been through it many, many times. Then I wonder if it is really good or is it just me?
Oi! That is something I’ve done MANY times… the idea was SO GREAT you had to get it in there… so you did… again… *snort* I do it less when writing fast because my memory doesn’t get so distant, but it still happens.
Great advice for keeping the chin up, and be sure to keep patting yourself that even though you did THIS, much of it has been fairly clean–that is GREAT!
Teresa–As long as we see them and fix them, we SHOULD be happy with ourselves! That’s what I keep reminding myself.
Margot–A cooling off period can really help!
Rayna–Oh believe me–I struggle with it every day.
Charmaine–That’s a very good point–if possible, give yourself some time between writing the first draft and editing it. Unfortunately, my deadline is tight this time and I didn’t work a rest period in.
Glen–I feel like all the mistakes just leap off the page at me. It can be really discouraging, if I let it be.
Jemi–I have to just pretend it’s not mine. Otherwise, I get either super-critical or really wigged out.
Wendy–I really have to work at it, but the distance is a tremendous help.
Alex–Sounds like you’ve got a healthy attitude toward your writing!
Hart–Looking at the positive side really does help! I’m glad I’m not the only one who has put a scene in twice. :)
Thanks for the great tips. Any time you would like to guest on The Blood Red Pencil, we would be glad to have you. This would make a good post there.
I think writing a first draft in five or six weeks is pretty amazing. Congratulations! What worries me when I find a big mistake is wondering how many others I’ve missed. I have to keep reminding myself that the manuscript has many more edits to go through. I like your idea to “Pretend that what you’re reading is something you’re reviewing for a critique group.” I plan try that when I do my next revision.
Awesome post. Again with the wonderful pointers for editing. I don’t think I have yet written a scene twice but perhaps it will happen to me down the road.
ann
I’ve actually been able to do the emotional distance thing. Not so much when I was a new writer, but with subsequent works, it…well…works. Must be a writer maturity thing.
Best, Galen.
Such a good post. I’m guilty of overworking and of being my own worst critic. I’m going to try to let go of both of those with this one and really concentrate on the characters. Wish me luck.
It is important not to censor your first draft too much. I do a bit of editing along the way, doing the last day’s material to remind me of what to write today. It’s hard to switch between critic and creator, so it takes a while to get going. I’m more productive when I just bash out tons of words without revising (just managed 100 pages that way), but boy does it need revising! I’m not sure which process I like more, but, as you say, emotional distance helps in the end. Otherwise, the stupid mistakes make you feel the story is stupid rather than just unfinished.
LOL! You don’t seem like the type to freak out.
I had a critiquer help with my last book and although I was bummed with the suggestions for change, I just took a deep breath and asked myself what I could do differently. And then I did it.
Excellent advice. And I agree this one is VERY important and also one of the hardest to do-
“Treat our own writing with some emotional distance.”
True dat! And kudos on getting the first draft done, too. (big smile)
Marvin D Wilson
Great post. First off – congrats on getting that first draft out. I always think of Nick Lowe’s line: Bash it out now, tart it up later. If it helps, just remind yourself that the book is there – the bones of it, anyway – you just have to dig it out.
I find it easier if I can take a few days away and then really throw myself in for a large uninterrupted amount of time. Impossible, huh? But if you can spend, say, Mon-Tues getting all that week’s errands out of the way, and then just throw yourself in Wed-Fri., well, by the weekend, you’ll have made some headway. And the next week will be easier!
Good luck!
oh – my fave trick for cutting parts I feel emotional about? Make a new file and put them in there. Tell yourself that you can reinstate them later. Or that you’ll use them later. I never do, but it makes it easier to cut them!
The Daring Novelist–I love your idea of using music or films to help keep you positive and to bring the fun back into the process!
I’m also really, really glad that I’m not the only one to write the same scene twice. I also found out today that I sent the same email twice. Maybe I need to go get some coffee. :)
Kristen–I think that’s the big shocker..when it’s BEEN good all along and then we find a major error.
Karen–You’re so right. Focusing on our successes can help us get over our setbacks.
Jane–I think you’re the one who gave me that advice originally! It’s a very good tip.
Janel–I read some advice recently that said to always save your emails to draft and then hit send after 30 minutes. The person said it saved them so many times…
Ann –Hope it won’t happen to you!
Elspeth–That’s the worst, isn’t it? I can write the word ‘just’ and ‘sighed’ about 200 times in a chapter if I’m not careful. It’s like some imp has gotten in control of my laptop.
Diane–Oh, I can freak out with the best of them! But then I can usually calm myself down pretty quickly, too. Lots of years of practice in dealing with my own foolishness.
Marvin–It makes life so much easier, doesn’t it? And thanks for the congrats! It does feel GOOD!
congratz on your first draft!
I sulk for a few days but just knuckle down afterwards. Mistakes are never thaaat lethal, after all we are still here…?
When I first started writing I thought getting to “the end” was the end, but then I realized that it was really only the beginning. Thanks for the pep talk.
Teagan Oliver
http://www.TeaganOliver.com
I have a regular writers’ group that I am a part of, and we meet weekly (if all of our schedules allow, which is often, because we work around each others’ crazy hours). We email our current pages to each other before meeting, then have suggested revisions and comments ready when meeting time comes. I’m about 2/3 of the way through the first draft of my first novel, and this process is the most encouraging tool I have in my writers’ toolbox. I’m looking forward to having the story completely done and going back for revisions. The second draft is calling me…
Lee–Great point! Nothing is really THAT bad for us to berate ourselves over. And the longer we worry over it, the more delayed we are from fixing it.
Tamika–I’d *definitely* ignore the crappy writing on the first draft. Just totally put it out of your mind and remember the first draft is the bare bones of the project. We can beautify it later. :)
Julie–We really can be our own worst enemy! But if we just tackle the mistake and don’t beat ourselves up, it’s so much better for us.
Teagan–To me the revision is tedious, but not quite as difficult as first draft writing. Then again, there have been times where I’ve rewritten whole chapters during the 2nd draft…not fun.
B. Miller–It sounds like you have a very supportive group! Good luck getting to your second draft.
Maryann–I’ll keep that in mind! Y’all have a great blog.
Galen–I’m thinking it does get better as we go along. :)
Carol–Me too. Good luck!
Lorel–I’m like you…just throw out the first draft really fast. So of *course* there are going to be mistakes (although for some reason I’m never expecting as many as there are!) But for me it’s the best way to keep my pace and continuity–just keep writing until I’m done.
How to keep mistakes in perspective? I sort of ebb and flow on this. When I’m at my best I can tell myself that this is process and that each manuscript I work on is different and the process is going to be slightly different so when I feel like I’ve wasted a bunch of time writing something I’ve already written (yes, I’ve done that, too), I tell myself that I’m right where I need to be. Granted I’m not always in that frame of mind and that is where the self-doubt, you-suck attitude might surface.
I love your reminder that we are our own worst critic. I’ve never really thought of myself that way since I am generally a positive person but I definitely go there sometimes, and it’s not productive.
I’m going to remember that! Thanks!
Clea–I like that idea. I’m just a little nervous (April 1 deadline). But you’re so RIGHT…if I did *everything* else on my plate…all the housework, all the errands, etc, that I’d be interspersing through the other writing days and then just shut myself up and wrote Wed-Friday then I’d get that thing revised quickly. I may have to give it a go.
And…great tip! You never know when you might need that scrap of dialogue in another book. :)
My process is so whacked that I’m never sure what draft I’m on – I could say that I am now on the second draft of the first half but the second half isn’t written yet. but I think I have to do it this way because I need to untangle something. Putting the same scene in twice huh? Yes, I can imagine doing that. Especially during NaNoWriMo….
Jan–I didn’t even have NaNoWriMo as an excuse!
Too funny about not knowing what draft you’re on! I’m like that, too…or at least, I was. I forced myself to get more organized with it. But sometimes the front end of my book is on a 10th draft and the back end is on a 3rd draft.
You nailed it. Distance yourself emotionally. I’ve had to axe entire chapters because they were data dump. I did take selected tidbits and disperse them throughout the MS. But yeah, emotion has to be taken out when it comes to working beyond the draft.
Stephen Tremp
Ha ha ha! I’ve done the same thing – used the same scene! Guess I liked it :)
I agree that you have to know when enough is enough, or you lose your story.