Three Tips for Writing When The Writing is Not Going Well: Writing Tip #1—Don't be a perfectionist
Especially with a first draft! Like I said last week, a lot of my creative writing students struggle with this. When I teach a new concept or strategy, something that is meant to result in the first draft of a poem, a short story, or an excerpt from a script, I'll follow this process:
1. Read examples of professional work.
2. Discuss and analyze plot structures and different style points.
3. Provide exercises to develop basic ideas.
4. Provide an outline/planning method to work with.
5. Give them time to write.
(This process can take up to three eighty minute classes before they're even ready to start writing. That's a lot of work!)
Even after all of that, I'll still get a student or two who says, "I don't know how to start." What it usually comes down to is that the student is afraid of the work "not being good enough." To which I invariably reply, "It doesn't have to be good at all. It just has to be complete."
This, to me, is freeing, and most of the time it works for my students, too.
When it comes to drafting and coming up with ideas, avoiding perfectionism can be avoided by understanding something called "The Madman, The Editor, and The Judge." Maybe you've heard it before. If so, you can skip to the end. If not, here's a breakdown.
The Madman stage is exactly like it sounds. While I advocate for planning and plotting, I don't think a writer has to stick to it no matter what. That's too constricting. It doesn't allow for serendipity or, honestly, creativity. In creative writing, the only purpose of a plan is to give a writer a general direction in which to head, a way to jump start each day's work. But while in The Madman stage, don't worry about the work being perfect; just be, as the name implies, as crazy and inventive as possible. Take risks, be weird, make things happen because you need them to happen (a cardinal sin in the final draft, by the way). Speeling errors down't matter. punctuation errors, don't matter. (See what I did there?)
It gives you, as the writer of a first draft, permission to just write, to see where the plot goes, and be happily surprised at some of the outcomes.
(By the way, if you're wondering, "The Editor" is the guy who fixes all the stuff that needs to be fixed: grammar and punctuation, plot holes, consistency . . . pretty much everything a writer is supposed to ignore while in "The Madman" stage. It's impossible to lock The Editor out all of the time. Fixing sentences and changing words, etc . . . is all a part of the drafting process, but I wouldn't let I wouldn't let him have a serious crack at the manuscript until draft three or four.
"The Judge" is the guy who decides whether or not your work is worth publishing. NEVER let him in until you're absolutely sure everything is done or nearly done. If you do, you'll never finish anything enough to warrant his arrival.)
Terry Pratchett once said that "a first draft is just you telling yourself the story." In other words, have to have something to work with before worrying about how good it is. It's going to be messy and imperfect, but enjoying the mess and imperfections is part of the fun!
Next up: Just Do The Work
Are you a fan of horror or post-apocalyptic fiction?
CLICK HERE to join my email list and receive a free short story, audio book, and theme song for "Beta":
A monster terrorizes an isolated village in the mountains of Eastern Europe, draining the blood of its victims, leaving them frozen in the snow. The villagers hunt wolves, decapitate “vampires,” but the murders continue. As each new body is found, the residents grow more and more paranoid. The cobbler's son decides to investigate, putting himself in grave danger. Who will be next? Will it ever end?
Sign up here!
www.jamesnoll.net
--JN
1. Read examples of professional work.
2. Discuss and analyze plot structures and different style points.
3. Provide exercises to develop basic ideas.
4. Provide an outline/planning method to work with.
5. Give them time to write.
(This process can take up to three eighty minute classes before they're even ready to start writing. That's a lot of work!)
Even after all of that, I'll still get a student or two who says, "I don't know how to start." What it usually comes down to is that the student is afraid of the work "not being good enough." To which I invariably reply, "It doesn't have to be good at all. It just has to be complete."
This, to me, is freeing, and most of the time it works for my students, too.
When it comes to drafting and coming up with ideas, avoiding perfectionism can be avoided by understanding something called "The Madman, The Editor, and The Judge." Maybe you've heard it before. If so, you can skip to the end. If not, here's a breakdown.
The Madman stage is exactly like it sounds. While I advocate for planning and plotting, I don't think a writer has to stick to it no matter what. That's too constricting. It doesn't allow for serendipity or, honestly, creativity. In creative writing, the only purpose of a plan is to give a writer a general direction in which to head, a way to jump start each day's work. But while in The Madman stage, don't worry about the work being perfect; just be, as the name implies, as crazy and inventive as possible. Take risks, be weird, make things happen because you need them to happen (a cardinal sin in the final draft, by the way). Speeling errors down't matter. punctuation errors, don't matter. (See what I did there?)
It gives you, as the writer of a first draft, permission to just write, to see where the plot goes, and be happily surprised at some of the outcomes.
(By the way, if you're wondering, "The Editor" is the guy who fixes all the stuff that needs to be fixed: grammar and punctuation, plot holes, consistency . . . pretty much everything a writer is supposed to ignore while in "The Madman" stage. It's impossible to lock The Editor out all of the time. Fixing sentences and changing words, etc . . . is all a part of the drafting process, but I wouldn't let I wouldn't let him have a serious crack at the manuscript until draft three or four.
"The Judge" is the guy who decides whether or not your work is worth publishing. NEVER let him in until you're absolutely sure everything is done or nearly done. If you do, you'll never finish anything enough to warrant his arrival.)
Terry Pratchett once said that "a first draft is just you telling yourself the story." In other words, have to have something to work with before worrying about how good it is. It's going to be messy and imperfect, but enjoying the mess and imperfections is part of the fun!
Next up: Just Do The Work
Are you a fan of horror or post-apocalyptic fiction?
CLICK HERE to join my email list and receive a free short story, audio book, and theme song for "Beta":
A monster terrorizes an isolated village in the mountains of Eastern Europe, draining the blood of its victims, leaving them frozen in the snow. The villagers hunt wolves, decapitate “vampires,” but the murders continue. As each new body is found, the residents grow more and more paranoid. The cobbler's son decides to investigate, putting himself in grave danger. Who will be next? Will it ever end?
Sign up here!
www.jamesnoll.net
--JN
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