First drafts Combo Thread

Kittenmay · Feb 27, 2012

Hi everyone.

So my issue is that whenever I start a new WIP, I cannot get past the first few paragraphs/pages/whatever. I obsess over it, and if its not perfect it bothers me and I freak out, freeze up and am unable to stop writing.
Does this happen to anyone? If so, what are your solutions? And no, I can't just scroll past it, because I can hear it screaming in my head "fix me, I'm wrong. You can't go on without fixing me!"

Basically, its driving me crazy.
Thanks for your input!

Modog814 · Feb 27, 2012

I know whenever I feel like that I tell myself to "shut up" because by the time I reach the end of the story the beginning is going to need to be changed to make the ending make sense. So I can't fix the beginning until I write the end and I can't write the end if I can't get past the beginning. So if I ever really want to fix it, I need to just move on.

Bubastes · Feb 27, 2012

Yes, I had this problem big time! Two things that might help:

1. Get an Alphasmart device. This nifty gadget did wonders for my writing productivity. I couldn't have finished my first novel without it. It's a dedicated word processor with a small screen so you can only seen 4-6 lines at a time. Editing on the device is a pain, forcing you to move forward with the story.

2. Tip from mscelina (another AW member): shrink your word processor window so you can only see a few lines at a time. Again, if you can't see it, you're less likely to edit it.

In the end, you have to learn how to override that "fix me!" voice. I sometimes say "LATER!" out loud to shut it up. Good luck!

Buffysquirrel · Feb 27, 2012

Ah, the evil internal editor. That voice in my head has paralysed me again and again.

I hereby grant you permission to write badly. It's a full and free pass and lasts your lifetime.

Don't think. Write. That's what I try to do. Look ahead, not back. If you practise determinedly writing on and ignoring the scream for perfection, it gets easier. After a few years.

SomethingOrOther · Feb 27, 2012

This Reddit post has the highest advice-quality:format ratio of all time, and it contains what I've found to be the answer. You aren't writing what happens; you're writing what could happen. You aren't writing what will be a part of your work; you're writing what could be a part of it. Embrace that mentality.

I suppose the traditional advice in this spot would be "Just be a big kitty and ignore your urge to edit." That such an approach is sub-par can be attributed to the facts that 1) you've clearly tried that already, and it hasn't worked, and 2) overpowering will by brute force is tough, and even when it works, it is unnecessarily painful (not coincidentally, one of New Year's resolutions' many flaws). Why try to push the boulder of will out of the path when you can figure out how to slink around it?

Nymtoc · Feb 27, 2012

Everyone writes differently (as if you didn't know).

Can't you try to push forward, telling yourself that you'll come back and fix the earlier stuff later? Try it as an exercise.

I don't believe that recommending this or that method is necessarily the solution. My method is different from yours. I do go back and fix earlier things, but I have no trouble jumping forward and continuing the narrative. In your case, it might be better not to try to perfect the earlier material till you've finished your first draft.

It's a psychological freeze-up. Tell your manuscript to stop screaming "fix me" and push ahead, thinking, "This may be crappy, but I'll have plenty of chances to go back and clean it up later." Keep your WIP's goal in mind.

I hope this is of some help. :e2drown:

Jamesaritchie · Feb 27, 2012

Kittenmay said:
Hi everyone.

So my issue is that whenever I start a new WIP, I cannot get past the first few paragraphs/pages/whatever. I obsess over it, and if its not perfect it bothers me and I freak out, freeze up and am unable to stop writing.
Does this happen to anyone? If so, what are your solutions? And no, I can't just scroll past it, because I can hear it screaming in my head "fix me, I'm wrong. You can't go on without fixing me!"

Basically, its driving me crazy.
Thanks for your input!

My solution is simple. I fix the page I'm on, and then I move to the next page. The trick is not looking back. When I have the page I'm on as perfect as possible, I don't read it again until the novel is finished.

Dr.Gonzo · Feb 27, 2012

If the voice asked you to jump off a bridge, would you?

Some people edit as they go (not me), but eventually you do have to go. You have to write the rest otherwise there's no point in a good beginning, a bad beginning, any beginning. If editing as you go isn't working, and you being here asking this question says it isn't, then you're gonna have to suck it up, get some discipline, and eat your greens before you can have pudding--say no to that voice.

Ask yourself, are you a crazy person? Do you have to do what the voice in your head tells you? If you do have to follow what it says, then your writing is the least of your problems.

Sometimes that voice tells me to turn my laptop off and put my Xbox on. I tell it to STFU, and then I get to work. We can all have a voice that lets us off with our shortcomings. Learn to control/ignore the voice if it isn't doing you any good.

Jamesaritchie · Feb 27, 2012

If a voice in my head told me to jump off a bridge, I'd seek a psychiatrist immediately. But when a voice in my head tells me I just wrote a bad sentence, or just one that won't work, I fix that sentence.

The only thing ignoring the internal editor does is allow one to write crap. The internal editor is usually correct, and ignoring him is a sure way to finish a novel, but not a very good way of finishing a novel anyone wants to read.

Unless you're mentally ill, the only voice in your head is you. The internal editor is not some demonic, outside entity that has invaded your brain. It's your mind. Your thinking part. There's nothing at all wrong with listening to it, and good reason not to ignore it.

Buffysquirrel · Feb 27, 2012

Really? So if the internal editor is not letting you write so much as a paragraph, you should continue listening to it?

Also, many people on this board are mentally ill, including me, and that particular remark is very hurtful, James.

Devil Ledbetter · Feb 27, 2012

Jamesaritchie said:
My solution is simple. I fix the page I'm on, and then I move to the next page. The trick is not looking back. When I have the page I'm on as perfect as possible, I don't read it again until the novel is finished.

What if the voice in your head told you to look back? Your trick of not looking back is no different from everyone else's trick of ignoring the internal editor.

I do fix the page (actually, the entire scene) I'm on. Then I move onto the next and don't look back until editing time. But since I call this "ignoring my internal editor" you think it will result in crap?

Sarah Madara · Feb 27, 2012

Jamesaritchie said:
Unless you're mentally ill, the only voice in your head is you. The internal editor is not some demonic, outside entity that has invaded your brain. It's your mind. Your thinking part. There's nothing at all wrong with listening to it, and good reason not to ignore it.

Very few - if any? - of us have a 100% healthy and helpful internal monologue.

*Always* ignoring one's internal editor could lead to grandiosity, but then again, so could *always* believing that one's thoughts are correct. The trick is in knowing what works for you and judicious filtering of those thoughts that do more harm than good.

BethS · Feb 27, 2012

Kittenmay said:
I can't just scroll past it, because I can hear it screaming in my head "fix me, I'm wrong. You can't go on without fixing me!"

I deal with this by fixing it, whatever it is. Then the voice shuts up.

In all seriousness, I revise as I go. That's how I figure out the story and the characters and what to write next. It's one step forward and two steps back, followed by three steps forward and one step back, and so on, cycling through again and again.

What I don't let it do is paralyze me.

And--this method doesn't work for everyone. Part of learning to write is figuring out the process that works for you. That may take some trial and error.

Kelsey · Feb 27, 2012

I used to have this problem, and could not finish a dang thing. I started to write my first drafts in situations where I could not completely focus on my writing alone. For example, I would sit on the couch with my laptop and watch the baseball game. By the end of the game, I had written five or six pages. As I started to see the pages pile up, I got more and more excited for the editing stage, and editing has become the part of the process I enjoy most. Getting out that first draft is definitely the hardest part, but this has really worked for me. I should also mention that I have a very clear idea of the timeline of my story before I sit down and write it with half a brain. I don't think I could do this if I didn't always know the next step of the journey.

Graz · Feb 27, 2012

Jamesaritchie said:
If a voice in my head told me to jump off a bridge, I'd seek a psychiatrist immediately. But when a voice in my head tells me I just wrote a bad sentence, or just one that won't work, I fix that sentence.

The only thing ignoring the internal editor does is allow one to write crap. The internal editor is usually correct, and ignoring him is a sure way to finish a novel, but not a very good way of finishing a novel anyone wants to read.

Question regarded a first draft, not the novel

BethS · Feb 27, 2012

Just wanted to insert a comment here on the nature of the so-called and much-maligned internal editor.

The internal editor is not the same thing as the internal critic.

The internal critic is the "voice" that tells you your writing is crap, you're an imposter, you'll never get published, your writing sucks, you're a worthless human being, why did you ever think you could write, and by the way, that scene you just wrote is utter garbage.

The critic is the part of you that's pessimistic, rebellious, and fearful. The critic is not only useless in terms of offering any constructive help, it's dangerous and destructive. It will stop you, if it can. You need to take it out back, put it up against the woodshed wall, and shoot it.

You may need to do this often, because it has a nasty tendency to resurrect itself.

Some writers hear this critic far more than others. For those who do constant battle with it, I'm telling you now that you will never, ever succeed as a writer (or probably anything) until you find a way to shut that voice up.

You can't literally shoot it, of course, but you can develop self-confidence and self-belief, and those come through growing competence, which in turn comes from practice and experience. And the more confidence you have, the less you'll hear that voice.

The internal editor, OTOH, is your friend. The editor is the analytical part of your brain that helps you see your work objectively and fix problems. Many writers find that they can't work creatively and analytically at the same time, so they ignore the editor until it's time to do revisions, usually after the completion of a first draft.

Some writers flip back and forth between the mental states. They create, edit, create, edit.

A few writers--a very few (I'm one, and I personally know maybe one other writer who is like this)--work in both states at once, so that the editor becomes a tool of the creator, and the creator aids in editing. The two are inseparable and indistinguishable.

Everyone's brain is wired differently, so there's no right or wrong approach to writing, except the one that seeks to cut the legs out from under you before you're even started. That approach is pure trouble.

Devil Ledbetter · Feb 27, 2012

BethS said:
The internal editor, OTOH, is your friend. The editor is the analytical part of your brain that helps you see your work objectively and fix problems. Many writers find that they can't work creatively and analytically at the same time, so they ignore the editor until it's time to do revisions, usually after the completion of a first draft.

This. And if you're one of these writers, as I am, the pesky internal editor you have to nail into a coffin during the first draft will be your best friend when you're ready to edit.

L.C. Blackwell · Feb 27, 2012

Let's not forget the difference between the Trained Internal Editor and the Untrained Internal Editor.

Listening to T.E. makes sense, because he's learned through experience--reading and writing--about what works and what doesn't, and is likely to start muttering when plot, voice, or detail is off.

U.E. on the other hand, screams "it's all horrible" before you get a word on the page--or least before you get more than ten words on the page. U.E. needs to shut up. He's not actually an internal editor, he's a little con artist, and he sucks all the confidence right out of you.

While you can and should go on training yourself to evaluate your own work, the really helpful internal voice won't show up right away. You may know something's off, but you're not likely to know what. To learn, keep reading--including the slush in Share Your Work, as it will help you spot what's off in other people's work.

But while you're getting that experience, you'll have to tell U.E. to go strangle himself, because you're writing, thank you very much. And maybe it is dreck. Maybe it's the worst piece of drivel ever written.

Fine. With T.E. in hand, you're going to look at this completed piece of drivel--which is a practice piece and will not ever see the light of day unless through many, many changes--and pick out one aspect.

U.E. will be screaming "it's all evil!" Bash him with something heavy, like an anvil. Then pick out one thing in your story--let's say tension.

"Scene is a little boring," T.E. says. "Your characters need action. Something needs to happen."

You know he's right about that, so listen. Think. Do.

And good luck.

(And BethS posted while I was posting and covered a lot of the same territory. We all agree that something violent should happen to that little guy.

)

willietheshakes · Feb 27, 2012

Graz said:
Question regarded a first draft, not the novel

For JAR, the first draft IS the novel, and he does it by perfecting one page before moving on.

Different folks, they have different strokes.

elindsen · Feb 27, 2012

Maybe start writing in the middle. If you outline, you can go back later and write the beginning. But maybe it is just hindering you. Save it til the end. No one says you have to write in order.

ylrebmik · Feb 27, 2012

Yes, this happens to me often. I'd prefer not to admit it, but I was working on the first few paragraphs this morning. My problem with re-editing that I'm working through right now is getting through parts and coming up with a better way/angle to write the story all-together. I feel like when I change something that isn't so minor like the wording, I feel like I have to continue on. It's annoying. Just work through it the best you can.

You could break your documents into chapters, and only work on chapters you need at the time. Or you could have a working document and a rough. Where you only work on a working document and then cut and paste it into rough draft after you're finished writing. I don't think theres one best way to do this; it'll be different for everyone. And I'm still figuring it out myself.

Dr.Gonzo · Feb 27, 2012

Jamesaritchie said:
If a voice in my head told me to jump off a bridge, I'd seek a psychiatrist immediately. But when a voice in my head tells me I just wrote a bad sentence, or just one that won't work, I fix that sentence.

The only thing ignoring the internal editor does is allow one to write crap. The internal editor is usually correct, and ignoring him is a sure way to finish a novel, but not a very good way of finishing a novel anyone wants to read.

Unless you're mentally ill, the only voice in your head is you. The internal editor is not some demonic, outside entity that has invaded your brain. It's your mind. Your thinking part. There's nothing at all wrong with listening to it, and good reason not to ignore it.

If it works for you, great. But it isn't working for the OP.

BethS · Feb 27, 2012

L.C. Blackwell said:
Let's not forget the difference between the Trained Internal Editor and the Untrained Internal Editor.

Yeah, except what you call the Untrained Editor, I call the Critic.

But you've hit on something valuable here. The inner editor of learning writers often starts out undeveloped, and can't provide them with any help at all. It needs to be trained. Practice helps. Also, reading books on the craft of writing. And few things will hone the objective eye faster than learning to critique.

jaksen · Feb 27, 2012

I write very differently from the OP, but the main difference is that I do not obsess over my writing. When I am writing, and in the flow of it, I do not care if I make spelling errors, omit words, use the wrong word, or if the punctuation is there or not. I just write-write-write, sort of like stream-of-consciousness writing.

So I would suggest if you're obsessing over details and having a difficult time getting through the first chapter, scene or paragraph, you try the same thing. Don't think too much about the way things sound, or look or read, just let your creativity take you where it wants to go.

Then later, go back and fix up, clean up, edit, revise, whatever needs to be done. That is the time to be picky or particular or obsessive - after that first scene is finished.

It's like you're painting with finger paints - you're allowed to be messy. The time to clean up is later, after the first scene (or chapter, whatever) is written. It might work for you.

celticroots · Feb 27, 2012

willietheshakes said:
For JAR, the first draft IS the novel, and he does it by perfecting one page before moving on.

Different folks, they have different strokes.

^ This!

My approach when writing a first draft is, "let's do this thing."

I cannot go back and fix something every time my internal editor brings something to my attention. I've tried, and the only thing that happened was that I drove myself nuts.

I don't expect the writing in my first drafts to be perfect. I don't believe that if the writing on the first draft is poor, then the book as a whole will suck. Revision exists for a reason.

The second draft will be better than my first, and so on. I will keep editing, revising, re-writing, until I have a manuscript that I am proud of. On the first draft, I just write, write, write, and tell my internal editor to STFU. I am finding that it works for me.

First drafts Combo Thread

Kittenmay

Magical flying kitty

Modog814

Bubastes

bananaed

Buffysquirrel

SomethingOrOther

-

Nymtoc

Benefactor Member

Jamesaritchie

Dr.Gonzo

Wonderfully Irreverent

Jamesaritchie

Buffysquirrel

Devil Ledbetter

Come on you stranger, you legend,

Sarah Madara

Freeway stomper extraordinaire

BethS

Kelsey

Book Slut

Graz

BethS

Devil Ledbetter

Come on you stranger, you legend,

L.C. Blackwell

Keeper of Fort Blanket

willietheshakes

Gentleman. Scholar. Bastard.

elindsen

Zombie lovin'

ylrebmik

Dr.Gonzo

Wonderfully Irreverent

BethS

jaksen

Caped Codder

celticroots