On Writing Badly and Redefining Failure by Becca Puglisi #ChaBooCha

When Becky contacted me about posting during this year’s Chapter Book Challenge, I was stoked. At the time, I was in the middle of my own NaNoWriMo, and I know how hard it is to plan and write an entire story in one month. So when Becky asked me to contribute, I jumped at the chance. And because I just went through my own process, I’d love to share some inspiration that got me through the month.

The thing that frustrated me the most when I started drafting was how blah the writing was. It was hard enough to get the words down, and once I did, I was completely underwhelmed by them. Then I stumbled across this quote by Shannon Hale:

I’m writing a first draft and reminding myself that I’m simply shoveling sand into a box so that later I can build castles.

Yes. Yes! By all that is holy, YES! This is what we do. We shovel words onto paper, as fast as we can, knowing—even expecting—them to be fairly crappy. Don’t worry about correct word choice, proper grammar, or flair. Just get the words down. That’s what you’re aiming for this month.

And that ties in to my second mantra, stolen from Dean Wesley Smith:

Dare to be bad.

I’m a little weird in that drafting is the most difficult part of the process for me. Every day when I sit down to write, it takes forever to get going. For me—and for a lot of writers, I’ve learned—it all comes down to fear. Fear of starting in the wrong place, of wasting time, of going through all this effort and the story not being any good—all of this stymies the writing. It wasn’t until I read Dean’s advice that I freed myself up to write badly. I realized that the only writers who do get it right the first time around are the ones who’ve been doing it for years and have written roughly a gajillion words. I’m not there yet. But I will be, if I keep writing. And so will you. So when you’re struggling through that first draft and you’re afraid that it totally sucks, don’t worry. Dare to be bad, and just finish the story. You’ll have plenty of time to pretty it up later. That’s what the revision process is for.

And that leads to a favorite quote—this one from Kristen Lamb—that we all need to remember from time to time:

Redefine Failure

When I started my NaNoWriMo, I aimed for the standard goal of 50,000 words. It became clear very quickly that I wasn’t going to make it. I wasn’t even going to come close. I had to revise my goal, and I ended up with 30,000 words— barely a third of my novel. At first I was disappointed that I had achieved so little. But then I realized, No. I had planned and outlined an entire novel. Wrote the first third of it with a preschooler underfoot. Wrote 30,000 words that I wouldn’t have had under my belt if I hadn’t tried. Mastered some new techniques that are getting me closer to being able to write those solid first drafts. I had to redefine my notions of success and failure to appreciate all that I’d accomplished in just thirty days.

And that’s my hope for each of you: Get the words down on paper. Don’t worry about the quality. And realize that what you’re doing is A-MAZING. This month is about more than just finishing a book. It’s also about the writing, whether that’s 2000 words or 20,000. With every word you write, you learn. As you learn, you improve. And as you improve, the process gets easier.

You’re doing great, ChaBooCha’ers! Keep up the good work!

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Becca Puglisi is passionate about learning and sharing her knowledge with others. This is one of her reasons for writing The Emotion Thesaurus, The Positive Trait Thesaurus, and The Negative Trait Thesaurus. A member of SCBWI, she leads workshops at regional conferences, teaches webinars through WANA International, and can be found online at Writers Helping Writers (formerly known as The Bookshelf Muse).

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Give-away!

Comment on this post by March 31st (noon GMT), to be entered into the drawing for a paperback copy of "The Negative Trait Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Attributes" by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi. Winner will be chosen by a random number generator on March 31st at noon GMT. You must be signed up for the challenge to qualify. 

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Winners!

 

I am a day late announcing yesterday's winner of  a paperback copy of "The Writer's Digest Guide to Query Letters."  The drawing was done yesterday, but I decided to announce the winner today along with other winner announcements (to cut down on the number of blog posts and e-mails you get).

The winner is:

Laura Jenkins!

Congratulations, Laura!

And for the prize being awarded today:

Chapter book Challenge member Linda Schueler generously offered this next prize, a copy of The Observation Deck by Naomi Epel. The winner was drawn by a random number generator, and the winner is:

Ashley Willoughby!

Congratulations, Ashley!