Five Nuggets of Writing Wisdom That Are Saving My Novel

These words of encouragement are fueling my shitty first draft writing journey

Hello dear readers,

Thank you all for the encouragement in the last several days as I push toward my 100K word goal. I’m up several thousand words, the updated chart is here.

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I find that the biggest struggle with getting words on the page thus far is my super loud self-critical voice that makes my writing feel futile. In no particular order, here’s a list of non-exhaustive thoughts I’ve had to push aside in order to keep writing:

• What if this is the best of me, and I can’t make it better with editing?

• What if my story is really boring?

• What if too many terrible things are happening and the book is too depressing?

• How do fiction writers write characters who feel real? How do they write the mannerisms, habits, dialogue, opinions, feelings of characters that are made up?

• What if I’m not capable of making the technology references not boring?

• What if I misunderstand the science and my storyline falls apart because the science-based scenes are not plausible?

• What if I spend forever doing research and it takes years to finish editing the book?

• What if someone else writes my story and characters before I do?

• What if there is no market for my book?

• What if the editing is harder and less rewarding than just getting words down? I thought it might be easier and more fun, but maybe it’s not?

These questions and feelings make getting the words on paper feel like pouring molasses. It’s slow and effortful. But hey, I’m still doing it.

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In the last couple weeks I’ve relied heavily on a handful of essays, quotes, and books to get my mindset right. They’ve helped a lot.

Mainly, these resources remind me in forceful, impactful ways that I’m allowed to have a shitty first draft. I should just keep writing. And more importantly, that I should trust my ability to turn the garbage I’m churning out into gold eventually. It’s a process that basically all writers go through.

I’m sharing these resources with you, in case it helps in your writing journey.

1.     This essay “How Bad Can a Good First Draft Be” by KJ is *chef’s kiss* exactly what I’ve needed.

KJ is an experienced book coach, author, and a co-host of the #AmWriting podcast and Substack). I’ve read her essay “How Bad Can a Good First Draft Be” multiple times because it is just so reassuring. Here’s a snippet.

Let me start by answering the question posed in the title: very bad. Very very bad. Terrible, even. Plotless meandering senseless drivel involving two-dimensional characters continually lifting cups of coffee to their lips and then never putting them down and suddenly, without warning, pumping gas instead.

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If a first draft has a beginning, a middle and an end, it’s a good first draft. It can be as bad as it has to be, as many times as it needs to be, for as long as it takes.

This snippet does not do KJ’s essay justice. Just read the whole thing, trust me. I’ve been clinging to it like it is revelation.

2.     The below passage by Stephen Koch helps quiet my critical voice.

The Modern Library Writer’s Workshop by Stephen Koch is chock full of helpful writer-mindset advice, but the below passage has been playing on repeat in my brain. It’s the record I turn on to drown out the self-critical voice.

Do not let the badness bother you. Use the badness…Your own first draft will probably be ragged, inarticulate, blundering, dull, and full of gaping holes and blank spots—a mortifying mess. Use every mistake. The inarticulate parts point to where you must make the words say exactly what you mean. The ragged parts point to what you must polish. The gaping holes tell you what has to be filled. The dull parts tell you unfailingly what must be cut. The blank spots show exactly what you must go out and find. These are infallible guides, and though they talk tough, they are your friends.

3.     The below quote about the creative process might be the most accurate I’ve ever read.

It was written in part by some random person on the internet, and no one can remember who. But Sara Read found it several years ago and has been a steward of this most perfect turn of phrase, so I think she deserves credit.

The creative process goes something like this: 1. This is awesome. 2. This is tricky. 3. This is shit. 4. I am shit. 5. This might be okay. 6. This is awesome.

Sometimes you can go through multiple cycles in a single day. This is also normal.

4.    I’ve heeded advice from Anne Lamott, the godmother of “shitty first drafts.”

Lamott’s classic book Bird by Bird has been a comfort. Here’s a snippet from a chapter entitled “shitty first drafts”:

The first draft is the child’s draft, where you let it all pour out and then let it romp all over the place, knowing that no one is going to see it and that you can shape it later. You just let this childlike part of you channel whatever voices and visions come through and onto the page. If one of the characters wants to say, “Well, so what, Mr. Poopy Pants?,” you let her. No one is going to see it. If the kid wants to get into really sentimental, weepy, emotional territory, you let him. Just get it all down on paper, because there may be something great in all those six crazy pages that you would never have gotten to by more rational, grown-up means.

5.     I rely on wise counsel from the queen of beginner-mind writing Natalie Goldberg.

Reading Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones is like getting a pep talk from my writing guru. She calls the critical voice inside of us the “censor” or the “editor” and tells us to ignore it.  

First thoughts have tremendous energy. It is the way the mind first flashes on something. The internal censor usually squelches them, so we live in the realm of the second and third thoughts, thoughts on thoughts, twice and three time removed from the direct connection of the first fresh flash. For instance, the phrase “I cut the daisy from my throat” shot through my mind. Now my second thought, carefully tutored in 1 + 1 = 2 logic, in politeness, fear, and embarrassment at the natural, would say, “That’s ridiculous. You sound suicidal. Don’t show yourself cutting your throat. Someone will think you are crazy.” And instead, if we give the censor its way, we write, “My throat was a little sore, so I didn’t say anything.” Proper and boring.

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You must be a great warrior when you contact first thoughts and write from them. Especially at the beginning you may feel great emotions and energy that will sweep you away, but you don’t stop writing.

That’s all for this week. I’m still pushing hard on that 100K goal, thanks so much for coming along for the ride.

Write on,

Noor