Pep Talk to Crissi on Writing the First Draft
Currently at 28,033 words in my NaNoWriMo novel
Dear Crissi,
At this moment, it is really hard for you to start writing because you’re having so many doubts, and you’re also feeling stuck on how to move forward. Last night you opened up a Pippa Grant book and right off the bat, the tone of the book was snappy and full of wit, and you felt like you had none of this in your novel, that you’d settled into a maudlin tone, as if you were writing a tragedy instead of a romance.
But also, when you opened up today’s chapter, you saw snippets of snappy dialogue and wit, and realized that you’re allowing your self doubt too much rein, letting it tell you lies to get you to stop writing. What you’re writing isn’t all trash. Maybe 60% trash, but that’s what editing is for, right?
You have a lot of ideas you’d planned for this novel, and your mental hurdle seems to be the transitions. How to get the characters to see each other as love interests instead of just humans sharing space. How to incorporate their past traumas into their present day quirks, and how to get them to move through these issues together. How to build a redemption story for a misunderstood character. How to tone down the side issues so that the connection between the characters takes center stage.
I want to remind you that, in this first draft, creating perfect transitions are not the most important things. They will matter, but right now, you’re just telling yourself the story. You’re letting the characters speak, even if they’re dwelling on stuff that shouldn’t take up so much space. Give them room to ruminate, to be overly dramatic, to act like fools or to even be a bit boring. Let them share every single part of themselves, even the parts that won’t matter to the story. Your job is to not interrupt and to just write write write until truth comes out. Your job is to get it all out in this messy first draft, even knowing that there will be a ton of deleting and refining once you reach the editing stage.
Stop getting hung up on writing the perfect first draft, because perfection stops the flow. Lay down your editor’s pen and your critical thinking cap, and just write whatever comes to mind.
You’ve done this before. You can do it again.
Love,
Crissi
So true. "You're telling yourself the story," and that self I'm telling--I have to remind myself all the time that that ear I'm whispering into as I draft is a friend. She's not pouncing on what's wrong. She's so glad to have cozied up next to me and we're having tea and she's just listening, absorbing. Not judging, enjoying. When I can imagine THAT, I have such a good time imagining the rest. Thanks for the encouragement!
I'm curious about the power dynamic in your novel. Is there conflict in this regard or is everything rosy with neither partner or potential partner seeking to assert him or herself at the expense of the other?