Immutable Laws of Writing, #4: There are no one-draft writers.

For any writing that matters—and, if you’re a bit of an obsessive wordsmith (like me), for any writing at all—the journey from none to done will include revisions. There are no one-draft writers.

“Writing is rewriting” has been said so many times, I want to question its truth on that basis alone. So let’s state it another way: good writing requires rewriting. Writing is a creative act, and creativity is far more than the flash of a great idea. Creativity is the hard work of moving from idea to well-executed solution.

Such is true of writing, and the longer the piece, the more work, time, and rewriting it takes. I don’t know about you, but I never send even a simple  email message without taking a second pass to make sure it says precisely what I want it to say, and nearly 100 percent of the time, I make at least one change.

We are a society obsessed with going from none to done, from zero to zenith with barely a stop in between, but I don’t think we’re seeing the process clearly. I think we’re seeing the journey as much too easy, and I’m not sure it’s even our fault. I think we’re being sold on simplicity that’s not there. For example, “couch to 5K” running programs make sense, but couch to marathon? Is it a worthy goal to go from not being a runner at all to finishing a marathon in six or nine months, even if that means walking the majority of it? (My answer: no. Becoming a regular runner and living a more healthy lifestyle are are worthy goals, and they don’t require that you punish yourself. The marathon can wait until the body is actually ready to run the race, not stagger home in seven hours.)

Or, closer to our topic, is the misunderstood world of self-publishing. The ability to publish a book or ebook with literally just a few clicks has led many, many people to finish writing the first draft of a book and to consider it done. Click: I’m a published author! Good for you! But did you know your book is almost certainly terrible? Not just full of typos, but actually terrible writing.

In case that’s not emphatic enough, allow me to beg: please, please, please don’t finish the draft and head straight for CreateSpace or KDP. You’re not nearly done. Your name will be on this. Don’t you want it to be be as good as you can make it? That means you must get back to work.

Why? Because good writing requires rewriting.

Plan to rewrite, and more than once. Your first draft will be horrible, terrible, very bad. And that’s okay. More than okay, actually: it’s expected. Why do so many writers think that all the words they put down must be brilliant?

There are times when it’s good to get it right in one take, such as when working in a blue book on a college exam, or writing inside a birthday card. But guess what? If you had the ability to rewriteon those occasions, you would almost certainly get it better the second time. And better still the third time.

This may not seem like good news for the budding novelist. You may be wondering: How many drafts, then? There’s no hard-and-fast for this, but it’s at least three for short works, and possibly more like 10 or 20 for long ones. If revising and rewriting are not something you enjoy, then perhaps writing book-length is not for you, because there are no one-draft writers.

But there is good news in this: there is no need for writer’s block (see Immutable Law #2). You can lower your standards, and just write that draft, allowing it by turns to be good or terrible. No worries; you’ll fix it later.

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Revisit the other immutable laws:

Immutable Law #1: The words aren’t going to write themselves.
Immutable Law #2: An object in motion stays in motion (and an object at rest stays at rest).
Immutable Law #3: Writer’s block means you don’t know what to write about next.

 

Immutable Laws of Writing, #3: Writer’s block means you don’t know what to write about next.

Author, blogger, and former literary agent Nathan Bransford says it more bluntly: “Writer’s block does not exist.”*

Mr. Bransford and I both agree that there is a feeling that some call “writer’s block.” We also both agree that it’s not a condition that befalls you, like a virus. His conclusion: you feel it because writing ceased being fun. I think that’s a valid thought. My conclusion goes a step beyond that: just because the words sometimes flow freely and with great joy, does not mean that’s what being a writer is all about. If you’re blocked, you’re waiting for something to happen, and that’s a fool’s mission.

Immutable Law #1 says the words aren’t going to write themselves. You have to write them. Which means that you, yourself, personally, have to place those black smudges we call letters on that white space we call a page.

Sometimes, your fingers hover over the keys and nothing happens. How easy it is, when that happens, to get up and say, “I’m blocked.” How easy it is to blame the universe and the muses.

The truth of the matter is, you’re blocked because you don’t know where you are going.

And this is bad. Because Immutable Law #2 says that objects in motion tend to stay in motion, and objects at rest tend to stay at rest…which means you can’t have writer’s block, or any kind of block, stopping your work cold in its tracks.

To have this conversation, I have to say a few words about the “pantser” vs. “outliner” debate. In truth, it’s not an either/or, but more of a continuum. At one end, seat-of-the-pants writers like to let their writing flow organically, every day a mystery. At the other end, the extreme outliners have all their scenes identified before they write a one. All along the continuum between those extremes are people who have some idea of where they are going, if not a complete picture. Which means that at any moment, “some” can become “none.”

The less you know about what you plan to write, the more chance there is you’ll feel stuck. Said another way, the surest way to get the feeling of writer’s block is to not know what you’re writing about now.

So, what to do about this? Is becoming an extreme outliner the only route to conquering the block? Thankfully, no. Here are three practical tips.

First, decide what scene you’re writing now. If you know that, you can write it. If you still can’t start, answer the basic questions that any scene requires: who’s in it, what has to happen, how does it end. Then, start writing.

If you simply don’t know what scene to write, then it’s time for the dangerous question: have you outlined your work? If not, this is the problem right here. But fear not: it’s easier than you think. An outline doesn’t need to be the Magna Carta. An outline can be as simple as knowing the general path your story is going to take. If you’re writing a novel, consider this basic and very common structure:

• The Setup (establishing the stakes)
• Plot Point 1 (the story is propelled forward)
• Midpoint (something important happens)
• Plot Point 2 (a twist that sends the story toward its conclusion)
• Resolution (how it all works out)

Or, consider the basic frame for almost all stories:

• Someone
• Wants something badly
• But there are obstacles
• Which are overcome, or not
• And someone is changed, or not

The level of detail you need beyond this is up to you, but it needs to be enough so that you know what to write next. Once you have sketched down to the level of detail that gives you enough to go on, you’ll be ready to write.

I’ve been using the language of fiction here, but this works for non-fiction, too. What’s the arc of the narrative? What things are you going to talk about, and in what order?

Second, write anything, even if it’s not what comes next. What rule is there that you have to write in order?

There is no such rule. Besides, there’s a good chance the order of things will change. So, apply jumper cables to your work: pick any scene you want to write, and write that one.

Third, lower your standards. Just get the words down. They don’t have to be good; and, in fact, you shouldn’t expect them to be. You already know, if you have ever written at all, that you’re going to be rewriting. Or, as Nathan Bransford puts it, remember that “your first draft probably sucks.”*

Why do so many writers seem to think they should be able to spin gold on the first try? Accept that the writing is not going to be publishable as it first emerges. Accept that you will have to rewrite it, possibly toss it. That’s the process; you may as well get used to it.

For now, just get the words down. Give yourself permission to write badly. “I’m going to write badly today!” It’s liberating, really. And that’s the end of this thing called writer’s block. For good.

 

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* Bransford, N. (2013). How to write a novel [Kindle edition], pages 168 and 188.

The words are not going to write themselves.

This seems obvious, no? Seems as if it doesn’t need to be said, yes? And yet, here it is, for your consumption, taking a prominent place as Immutable Law of Writing #1. Here’s the full story.

I know many writers who do not write. I think what those people mean when they say they are writers is they like to write, enjoy writing, or maybe like to think of themselves as writers. Still, they do not write.

I know many people who say they want to write a book, but they are not writing a book, and make no attempt to write a book. I think what they mean is they want to have written a book. What they don’t mean is they want the experience of writing a book. What they don’t mean is they want to do the work of writing a book. They want to be authors. This is not the same—this is not remotely the same—as wanting to do the actual work of writing.

Immutable Law of Writing #1 says the words are not going to write themselves. What, then, is the solution? The glib answer is: if you want to be a writer you must write. But here is some more practical advice: if you want to write, you must write every day.

The question that follows is how to do that: how does a busy person find the time to write every day? Here are three pieces of practical advice for finding the time to write every day.

One: Decide whether you mean it. 

Decide, once and for all, if writing is a priority for you. If it is, you will find a way to do it. I don’t mean to be simplistic about this, but it’s a simple matter: we do what we think is important. (The time won’t fall from the sky, however; you have to go and find it. See tip number two, below.)

It is vital here to know what you are writing. If it’s a novel, name it and outine it (at least roughly). If it’s a blog, decide what the blog is about and who it’s for, and keep a running idea list of things to write about. If it’s a business book, name it, define the audience, and outline its chapters. And so on. None of this is writing, by the way, but it helps you know what to write when it comes time to write.

Two: Once you have decided you will write, give something up and replace that time with writing. 

If your days are full, it will be easier to find time within the day than to figure out the physics of making the day longer than 24 hours. And the easiest way to do that is to stop doing something that takes up your precious, precious time.

Perhaps the first thing to do is to consider time as precious.

Then, look at what you do and decide what not to do so that you can write. Let’s say you need a half-hour to write each day (see tip number three, below). How might you find 30 minutes a day? Could you give up 30 minutes of sleep, Facebook, Candy Crush, or television? (On your deathbed, will you wish you had played more Candy Crush?)

If you are a writer, you are a creative thinker, so you can apply your creativity to this. Could you do the 60-minute yoga class instead of the 90-minute? Could you work from home one day a week and save the commute time? Do you have the resources to hire out a household chore, such as cutting the lawn, or have a family member do it? Could you have a child or spouse cook dinner an extra day each week? Could you take a 30-minute lunch instead of 60? Could you resign from that club you’ve belonged to for years but doesn’t really provide you any real benefit these days? Can you say “no” to something that you’ve been asked to do? The possibilities are nearly endless.

Three: When you have found your writing time, set a can’t-miss daily production goal. 

How about just 500 new words per day?

For most people, that’s about 30 minutes. How much is 500 words? It’s not much. This post, for instance, is 800 words. If you could write 500 new words per day—say, by getting up 30 minutes earlier, or forgoing one television show in the evening—you will have written a draft of a 90,000 word novel in just six months. That’s it! That’s all it takes. First thing in the morning, before everyone else has gotten up (or whenever), write a minimum of 500 new words, and do it every day.

Because, you know, the words aren’t going to write themselves.