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Margaret talks about going the extra mile
I’m talking again about going the extra mile when
writing. It’s so easy to write a story and think that it is finished -
especially for new writers. But the truth is you can’t sit back after your
first draft and believe the story is written. It can take two or three drafts
before you are truly satisfied, and even then – if you have the willpower to
put it to one side for a few more weeks – you may still find things that need
changing.
Even if you want to self-publish it is still vital to
ask a friend, preferably a writer herself, to read through your manuscript and
hopefully congratulate you on a book well written, or suggest you write some
parts a little differently.
Excellent advice, Margaret. I have 2 critique partners and 2 'readers', all of whom help me in different ways.
ReplyDeleteYou're very lucky, Paula. Nevertheless I do value my one critique partner.
DeleteI'm the opposite, Margaret. I am only slowly coming to accept that I have a chance at being a decent story teller.
ReplyDeleteI'm a great newsletter writer, great at slice of life vignettes. But crafting a story is a different kettle of fish. I rely hugely on my critique loop and my bestest one-on-one crit partner. I don't care much for contest feedback. First round judges are too often poor writers with an axe ready to cut you down.
I would never assume I nailed a story without crit partners. Even then, I feel too often that I'll never be good enough.
Oh, Anna, don't put yourself down. I guess we all do have doubts but I'm sure yours are ill-founded. The trouble with being a writer is that we are so close to our work that we cannot see if there's anything wrong. That's where crit partners come in.
DeleteA story definitely takes many drafts. My biggest problem is the willpower you mentioned. I'm always so eager to send it off to my editor I usually don't set it aside for that long and come back to it.
ReplyDeleteI need to get better at finding readers before I submit, too. Again...my eagerness gets in the way and I just want to send it off.
I know exactly what you mean, Debra, and in the beginning I used to send my books off without anyone else having read them. And they always came back with suggestions for changes. Eagerness always gets in the way, I'm afraid. We think our books are perfect, we've spent many long hours on them, so how could they not be? All par for the course I guess.
DeleteI'm just getting back to a manuscript I put aside about a month or so ago and finding areas that need improvement, as well as pieces of it I love. The time off is essential to me.
ReplyDeleteMost definitely, Jennifer. It gives us the distance we need to see what works and what doesn't.
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