Recently, I’ve read many posts on social media that all equate to the same dilemma:
- Plotter, planner, or plotster?
- Should I edit as I go?
- Crit group or MFA?
- What writing software should I use to write my first-ever novel?
The answer to all of those questions—just start—is just that easy and just that hard.
I’m not saying that tools and strategies won’t help you revise, track, and organize your book—they will. Crit groups are great for constructive feedback as well as developing editorial skills to apply to your endeavors. MFAs will…not keep you from writing your book.
However, no sheepskin, gang of ink-stained miscreants, or software will do the most important job for you:
WRITE THE BOOK
Oh, and if it’s not clear, editing as you go isn’t efficient. It’s avoidance. Get the story down. Rough, illogical, damn-near incoherent—get it down, “Once upon a time...” to “...something-something-ever-after.”
Is the book done? Certainly not.
Once upon a time Science Fiction visionary, Philip K. Dick spoke on a writing panel that included the following exchange with Judy-Lynn del Rey, the mother of modern Science Fiction (and patron of PKD’s work). Obvs, I paraphrase, (badly).
“On speed, [amphetamines] I can write 6000 good words a day,” —Philip K. Dick
“Well, not good words…” —Judy-Lynn del Rey
The point is once you’ve completed your story it isn’t “done.” That is good news! It’s not etched in stone. It’s not good. It’s not terrible. It is complete.
It’s a draft and a draft is not ready for submission. It’s not ready for editing. It’s not even ready for a crit group. It is, however, EXACTLY what it has to be—a completed idea, illogic plot, atrocious grammar, bad breath and all.
The artistry, the real writing, is in the revisions. You may find that the middle is actually the beginning of the story. The (former beginning) is now a truncated flashback or a charming interlude between drug-fueled shootouts. You may end up with more endings than a “choose your own adventure” book. All neatly organized with that spiffy software that you now have a purpose for.
But you can’t get to that until the bones are laid down. Until the draft is completed—beginning, middle, and end—you don’t have a story. You have an idea which will never be anything more than a passing whim without some ugly work put in.
