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Writer's Commandment Number Three

James MacDonald, in giving advice to new writers, has said many times over that it is important to give yourself permission to write crap during the first draft. (He has a lot of really wonderful advice on writing commercial fiction, most of which can be found here.)

My third writer's commandment is inspired by that gem of wisdom.

Writer's Commandment Number Three: Thou shalt remember that some words is better than no words.

That sounds cryptic and ungrammatical. But here's the thing. Whether you're writing a first draft or a fifteenth draft at some point you will get caught up on some point that you don't know how to overcome. Maybe it's how to reveal a key piece of information. Or working out the snarls in a love/hate romantic subplot. Maybe it's just getting your MC out of the hole in the ground where he is determined to hide until the whole damn thing is over with. The fact is, at some point you will get stuck.

This is frequently (and erroneously, in my opinion) termed writer's block. The only way around it is through it. And by this I mean, in order to get unstuck you will - at some point - have to write yourself out of the hole in which you have landed.

And when it comes to getting stuck - and then unstuck - the best thing to do is NOT to stop writing. Some words is better than no words. Even if they are "bad" words. "Worthless" words. Even, dare I say it, utter crap.

Sometimes what you need is momentum. When I get stuck I start off my next writing session working on something else, usually a short story. I write for about 30 minutes. That's enough time to get the creative engine warmed up and all the processes necessary for writing engaged. Then I go back to the "block," the whatever-it-is that has me stumped and I try again. I don't attempt to spew forth polished prose. Instead I start with something simple.

"James walks out the door." 

Good, now he's outside and no longer hiding in the safe house. Then what?

"He has decided to go to the train station and catch the first thing headed for the buttcrack of nowhere. All of this, the prophecy, the heroic posturing, the love and manipulation, will be left behind. They can burn in hell for he cares. He will be somewhere else, living a normal life.

"Reaching the corner, he stops and looks to see if there is a bus in sight. He could walk, but his backpack is heavy and the sword, which he hasn't quite been able to leave behind, strikes the back of his leg with every step. There is no bus. In fact, there is no traffic at all. 

"The ground shivers and a crack skitters across the pavement trailing smoke and pale flames and the scent of brimstone. Looks like the demon is doing what it set out to do. Suddenly James realizes that Emmy and John and the rest of them will burn in hell if he doesn't do something."

And there you go. Suddenly, I've moved past the sticking point and the words are flowing again. It is not always that simple. If I try to just hammer something out and I get nothing, the next best thing is to free write about the problem. I need James to leave the house and see exactly what fate awaits his friends. But he's determined to stay in hiding. So something must make him leave. Maybe he decides not just to hide but to leave town alltogether. Etc, etc.

Then I move on to the next scene. Even if that one is still very rough. Even if it's still incomplete. That's tricky, because the little voice that always tries to suck the life out of your creative momentum will say "But what if this chapter/scene doesn't make sense with the rest of the story?" The answer is simple. You, being the kick-ass writer that you are, will fix it.

That's it. Fix it later. You have the skills to do that. If you don't, you will learn them. Not every scene is going to flow smoothly from one to the next on the first pass. Maybe not even the second or third pass. But you will be able to fix those bumps in the road. And when you hit one the first time don't stop writing and wait for the hole to fill itself in.

Some words is better than no words. The best cure for "writer's block" is writing. The best solution to a problematic plot point is working through it. Even if you have to skip over it and come back later. I highlight crappy sections in my manuscripts (as I write them) and put in a tag like this. Then I move on. Eventually something in my brain will turn over and I'll think "That's how that scene should go." And I fix whatever wasn't working. 

In the meantime, I keep writing. Because I can't fix anything if I'm not putting words down on paper.

Writer's Commandment Number Two

A few days ago I laid out what (to me) is the primary writers "rule." Not comparing yourself to others and then moping around because you can't produce as many words or your prose is not as polished on the first draft or whatever it may be. (And most importantly, not hating those that are more skilled in any area than you are. I don't care if they type faster than you do or have a fucking thesaurus in their brain, no hating. It only makes you look shabby.)

Before I go on to commandment number two I thought I would clarify one point that was raised by Scarlett.

If you are in a mutual writing partner or beta-reading situation you may find that it is beneficial to make some comparisons between your work and your partners. That is a different kettle of fish. A) You are making the comparison to someone you know on a somewhat personal level. B) You are both striving to make the other person a better writer/help them strengthen their weaknesses.

My caution is against that general "S. King is a best seller and writes three books a year and I don't understand why I can't do that. I bet he has a group of writers that draft his books for him and then he just puts a little polish and his name on them." You can insert the name of any author (published or unpublished) in there. Don't do that. It's destructive.

Now, for commandment number two.

Writers Commandment Number Two: Thou shalt not compare thyself to another writer for the purpose of making thyself feel better about thine own writing.

This is the one that really gets me. Because I know that I'm good at what I do. (And I'm not saying to adopt false humility about your skills. If you're good, you should say so. Maybe not all the time, but it's okay - more than okay - to own the fact that you do something well.) But I tend to start looking at other work, especially that of other unpublished authors or newer authors, and I think "Hey. I am so much better than they are."

The problem with this is that when you think you are better than everyone else, it is a very small step to the thought "I don't need to work as hard because I'm already good."

Any writer, every writer can always be better than they are now. I can be better than I am now. No matter how much more vivid my prose already is, no matter how cool my characters are, there is always room for improvement.

Don't let yourself get lazy. Don't get caught in the "Well, I'm already better than author X and they're published so I don't have to worry about improving my craft any further." And I know that there are very few who would consciously say/think something like that, but unconsciously is a whole different story. It all starts with looking at something someone else has written and thinking "Dude, they suck."

So, write. Be confident. Don't judge.

Peace.

Writer's Commandment Number One

One of the first things you hear as a writer is that there are no rules when it comes to writing a novel. This is true. However, I have come to the conclusion that there are certain rules that apply to the writer or the practice of writing that have nothing to do with how-to-write-a-novel.

Before I confuse you any further I shall demonstrate by laying out my first rule of writing. A Writer's Commandment, if you will.

Commandment #1: Thou shalt not compare thyself to any other writer for the purpose of beating thyself up regarding personal writing practices.

An online acquaintance just wrote a rather long rant about authors/writers who criticize her for the amount of words she is able to write in a single day. For the most part, I agree with her. But the thing I really started thinking about was how deadly it can be (creatively, of course) to start comparing what one does writing-wise with what someone else does writing-wise.

I type pretty fast. Not super-fast, but still fast enough that when the thoughts are flowing I can put 1500 words on the "page" in a little under an hour. This is partly because I have taken the time to actually learn how to type. While typing (or writing - if one does this by hand and not on computer) is not the most important skill in becoming a successful writer, it is a very useful tool. My speed is also do in part to the fact that many times I have run through scenes in my head while I'm doing other things and when I sit down I am prepared to put all of it on paper. (Doesn't always come out that easily, but most of the time I'm typing out something I have already mentally "written.")

So, given the amount of time I am able to scrape together for myself I can usually turn out around 3k a day. If I sit down with a good idea of what to write. And I'm not tired. Or hungry. Or otherwise distracted. (And yes, I chose to have a family. It is not an excuse it is merely a fact. I do not have the same amount of free time now as I did when I was single.)

3k a day is a very respectable number. At that pace I can (theoretically) finish a first draft in a month.

But it's still hard not to get frustrated when I look at other writers I know (like Lori Witt) who due to less strenuous demands on their personal time and (probably) a lot more discipline when it comes to writing can write an entire first draft in eleven days. (And we're talking a whole first draft. Not just a NaNo-like challenge of 50k. But the whole damn thing. Beginning. To. End. I get tired just thinking about it.) It's hard not to get frustrated when I see people say they only need one, maybe two, passes editing a rough draft to get it ready for submission.

I think I am not alone here. Others must feel this frustration too.

The solution is not (as Scarlett has pointed out) to deride those who do better than we do. It is not to accuse those who can churn out 5k a day of being hacks or to say "Oh, well I prefer to focus on quality." That is cheap. It only makes the ones saying it look petty and insecure. (And I would like to point out that while I've never been accused of producing volume at the expense of content, I have been exposed to the "I don't know why anyone would write about vampires. That's so overdone. And unoriginal." argument. And all I can say is, once you read my book you'll eat your damn words.)

No, the solution to the problem is to stop comparing how you write to how anyone else writes. I am all about getting people to write every day, to learn how to reach daily word count goals, and produce rough drafts in a month instead of a year. But not everyone writes that way. I have learned (through much blood and tears) how to turn off the filters and write. But not everyone writes that way. Not everyone can write that way.

That is okay.

I don't want someone looking at what I do and feeling bad about how they produce a book. If you are writing you are doing it right. If you put words on the page, one after another until you have a sentence and then a paragraph and finally a chapter, you are doing it right. Whether it's 5 words a day or 50 or 5,000, you are doing it right.

Don't look at someone else and let their accomplishments get you down. That is counterproductive in so many ways. If you want to compare yourself to someone, look at your own work. Anyone who writes every day will improve month to month and year to year. That is what counts.

Talent and Hard Work

Like many things related to the world of writing there is much debate over the importance of talent versus hard work. Many a beginning author (myself included) has spent needless hours worrying about whether or not they have the required talent to write at any sort of professional level. Others feel cheated when they hear that the important thing is working hard, not whether you have oodles of talent to begin with.

The dilemma, here, is in the definition. How do we distinguish “talent” from “skill”? Guess what? In the end it doesn’t matter.

Here is the skinny on "talent" versus "hard work". Look at something you wrote today. Now compare it to something you wrote a year ago. Or ten years ago. Have you improved?

"I have," you say.

Great. Now, tell me: did you improve because your natural talent blossomed or because you were busting your butt practicing your craft?

"Well," you say. "I don't know. How can I tell?"

You can't, so stop worrying about it and write.

Knowing When to Take a Break

Last time I made a Big Point about finishing what you start.

This time I want to stress that it is okay to stop working on a project for a few days (maybe even a few weeks) and do something else. Make no mistake, I am NOT advocating "project hopping." That's when you let your muse lead you around by the nose, starting a million projects and never seeing any of them through to the end. But, in our drive to write every day and finish all our novels, most of us (I include myself here) overlook the fact that writing is work. Enjoyable work most of the time, but still... work.

In most professions we get weekends and holidays off. As writers we are expected (and seem to expect of ourselves) that we go all the time with no breaks or vacations or stopping our forward momentum for any reason.

This is wrong.

Our brains need time to rest. Our creativity needs time to refresh. Our hands need time to recover. In general, taking a break for a day or two every few weeks will not kill your writing discipline nor will it make you any less committed as a writer. I do not want to encourage laziness. Writing is work and should be approached as such. But, since it is work, it can be put aside for a "weekend" or a "vacation" to allow yourself time to breathe and relax and remember why you're so excited about this project in the first place.

I still think that writing every day is important. Setting concrete goals (words per day, pages per day, chapters per week, whatever works for you) is important. Knowing when to take a break is equally so.

Don't write yourself into exhaustion. (Writer's exhaustion is, I believe, the all-too-common cause of so-called "writer's block".) Take a break. Read a book. Take a walk or go on a picnic.

Then come back and write your ass off.

Finish What You Start

There are many skills you will employ as a writer. The most important is finishing what you start.

It doesn't matter how brilliant your prose is or how likeable your characters are. It doesn't mean a thing if your story is the most creative idea ever or your dialogue is stunning. If you don't finish it won't matter.

It sounds simple. It is not. Starting at the beginning of a story and working through to the end (whether you're writing a 5k short or an 80k novel) is hard. Start developing that skill now.

Too many writers get “I-got-a-better-idea-itis”. Been there and done that. I spent over ten years starting various projects, getting stuck and then starting something new. As a writer you have to learn to push through the difficult parts. Sometimes that will mean skipping over something until you figure out why it's not working. (That approach is easier when the project in question is a novel.) Sometimes it will mean sitting and staring at the computer screen (or piece of paper if you prefer to write things long-hand) for hours until the words flow out again.

Finish what you start. It will do wonders.