A few years ago I was working at a TV station. One day another employee stopped me in the hallway and the following conversation ensued.
DUDE: Hey. I saw you the other day
while you were at a red light. I waved and yelled at you but you
didn't answer.
ME: Really? Where?
DUDE: Down on Main Street. By the
Mexican food place.
ME: Oh. Sorry. When I'm driving I tend
to be... ignorant.
Needless to say, that was not the word
I was looking for. I meant oblivious.
So, I just turned red and hurried off to do something else as soon as
I realized I sounded like an idiot. (Ignorant, indeed.) That's the
problem with talking to people – you only get one chance to find
the right word.
When
you're writing, it's a whole different story. And here's where we get
to the point of today's post.
Rough
drafts or, as some prefer to call them, first drafts are no good at
all if you don't finish them. I can't tell you how many unfinished
first drafts I have lodge in my virtual trunk. (Actually a computer
folder labeled “Shyte”.) There they sit, lovely beginnings that
serve me no purpose because in order to do anything further they must
first be FINISHED.
Learning
to finish a draft is hard. Here's how I handle the ingrained writer's
instinct to make every word perfect the first time through. (An
admirable goal, I might add, but usually counter-productive.)
First,
I recite the following mantra.
Some
words are better than no words.
A bad
word is better than no words.
A
simple word is better than an incorrect fancy word.
Poorly
structured words are better than no words.
Then I
write.
When I
find myself searching for an obscure synonym for “black” I repeat
line three of the mantra, type in “black” and keep going.
When I
start analyzing whether I really want to use a gerund or should I
change the sentence structure to improve flow I repeat line four of
the mantra, type my gerund riddled sentence and keep going.
When I
start wondering if I've gotten any email/if there's fresh
coffee/whether this story sucks, I repeat line one, turn off the
internet connection, promise myself a cup of coffee after I reach the
end, clonk my inner critic over the head and keep going. (Are you
seeing a pattern here, yet?)
When I
write “he ran” and realize that's totally not the right word for
the situation, I repeat line two of the mantra, tell myself “I'll
fix it in post” and keep going.
“What
about plot holes?” you say. “What if I decide I want my story to
take place in Rwanda instead of Scotland? What if I don't know the
scientific term for iron?”
I have
a nifty system for that too.
For
anything plot related I use these [ ] brackets. [I write a note,
right in the middle of the story with a summary of a scene I'm not
ready to write yet, a note to move the location of the story, or even
just a note that says FIX THIS LATER! and put the square brackets
around it for easy reference.] (One writer I know changes the font
color on sections he thinks need work as he's writing to make them
easy to spot during editing.)
For
anything research related I use these < > brackets. Usually
things like <Insert proper scientific term here> or <Find
street name>.
Then I
keep going.
It is
a difficult skill to learn, letting your mistakes lie there until
it's time to edit. But in the end, one of the most common differences
between “aspiring” authors and published authors is the ability
to FINISH A STORY.
When
you write a rough draft it is okay for it to be utter crap. That's
why we call them “rough” drafts. They can be awkward and have
pieces missing and subplots dangling and poorly researched settings.
Because all of that can be fixed during editing. But if the story
ain't done, you won't have anything to edit.
So,
repeat after me.
Some
words are better than no words.
A bad
word is better than no words.
A
simple word is better than an incorrect fancy word.
Poorly
structured words are better than no words.
Now.
What have you written today?
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