To be a true writer, you have to get to the end — it’s unavoidable. The best advise I've ever received, this from a well published writer, was to write the whole thing. Don’t stop to “polish” any chapters until your entire manuscript is written.
If you polish, you never finish.
Another great unavoidable for me — the outline. I find that an outline, even one as simple as:
Chapter 1 — Hero breaks leg, can’t save the world.
Chapter 2 — Hero wallows in self pity.
Chapter 3 — world falls apart because hero, isn’t.
Gives me something follow. If I don’t have it, I end up polishing.
The final unavoidable — the rejection. Everyone gets them. I read them, work with them, and move forward.
What are your “Unavoidables” when writing?
For me it's at some point feeling totally discouraged and my writing sucks and then the next week being totally encouraged!
ReplyDeleteOkay, so I know the cardinal rule is to not editing while writing, but I'm crazy like that. Until each chapter is where I want it, I can't seem to move on. It's never going to be perfect, but I have to get it to a point where I'm somewhat satisfied before I can wrap my head around another chapter.
ReplyDeleteI don't outline to the last letter, but I so agree that even a sentence in my head that tells me what's supposed to happen keeps me on the straight and narrow.