Do you remember a time when there wasn't a crisis every single minute of every single day? Me neither. It seems like the universe is stacked against writers who have a full time job and a precocious, iPad obsessed toddler. And yet, we find a way to persevere, because writing is life, and to not write is to let the next great American novel wither on the vine. It may take a little longer, we may...
Maybe I'm just arrogant and handsome, but I don't think my first draft is shitty. My first draft is awesome, and I bet yours is too, which is why I'm really starting to hate how often your first draft will be shitty is being thrown around as an accepted maxim or worse, as a piece of writing advice. I understand how we got here--if you put a first draft and a final product side-by-side, you'll...
We're here. The midpoint. 31 chapters down. 29 chapters to go. Progress has been good, but the difficulty factor of this WIP has varied wildly in the past month. There are times when the plot barrels ahead, propelled by its own momentum, and others where I actually have to put my feet up and think about where a chapter is going. Can you believe that? Thinking? At my age? That's just one of the...
Common Twitter author wisdom holds that your first draft, no matter your skill level, will always be shitty. There was one guy once who posted that it doesn’t have to be shitty, but he was wrong. First drafts are generally terrible, but the advice bandied about in 140-character chunks is just as terrible. Just write something. Just write shit. Ugh.
