Mistakes Were Made--Some Writing Advice (Patreon)

When I posted news about sending a full draft of Curses to my agent (Woooo!), I mentioned that I made a huge mistake during my writing process and that I knew better. Several people asked what that may be, so here it is:

I went back. Instead of finishing a full draft of Curses first thing, I kept rewriting the first 120 pages. I know why I did this, and I can understand my logic, but I still knew better. Whenever I'm working with a writer who is in the drafting process and we discuss changes, I always stop them from going back and making those edits. I tell them to write them down in their notes, and then proceed as if they already made those changes. Go forward at all costs, because you don't really have anything until you have a full draft.

I know this. I've written five novels now, four of them published. I have a degree in this stuff. I'm not new. And I was right. It was a huge mistake, and it ended up with me spinning my wheels on the same book for years. YEARS.

So if I knew better, why did I do it? Several reasons, really. First, we were trying to sell the book on a partial. That's exactly what it sounds like. We were going to take 120 pages of the novel and an outline of the rest and try to sell the book like that.  That's because of the second reason--with Pyromantic I fulfilled my contract. For the first time since 2008, I'm not really under a publishing contract anymore. (My publisher does have "first look" at whatever I do next, but that doesn't mean they'll buy the book.) 

I was out of contract. Without a contract, I don't get paid. My books haven't earned out yet. (You don't receive royalties on a book unless you've earned back your advance from your publisher. Most books don't earn out.) I don't live a fancy lifestyle by any means, but I do live outside of Seattle, which is crazy expensive right now. I have two kids. I have a whopping student loan. I have a modest car loan left over from having to replace my husband's car after a drunk driver totaled his. My day job and all the freelance I do is not enough money for us to live on, even with my husband's income. So basically, I was panicking and I wanted to get back under contract.

And it was a mistake. An understandable one, but that doesn't change anything. Sometimes it's good to make mistakes, even when you know better, as a reminder to you as to WHY YOU NEVER DO THAT. Now I have a story to back up my advice when my students ask why you always draft forward at all costs.

That being said, maybe that's your process. Maybe editing heavily as you go works for you. Okay. That sounds crazy to me, but okay. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Unless it stops working. Every book is different. Things that work for other books, might not work on your next project. So even with my warning ringing in your ears, be flexible with your writing process. Try new things. If something isn't working, try something else.

Example--I generally draft in Scrivener. Once I have a reasonable draft, I move it to Word for editing. This is mostly because it's easy to label and move scenes in Scrivener. I've done this for three books. It's working for me. I don't draft by hand ever because I can't read my own handwriting very well, and I find that frustrating. I also type faster than I write, so when I'm handwriting my hand can't keep up with my brain, so my handwriting gets even worse, and then MOAR FRUSTRATION. Basically, I hate it.

So what am I doing for East Bound? I'm handwriting several of the chapters first, then sifting through my crap handwriting, and typing it out. And it's working. For whatever reason, that process is working for East Bound. I have no idea why, but I'm certainly not going to talk myself out of it. 

This is why I tell authors to go to readings or read interviews where authors discuss their process. Everyone goes about it differently, and you might get ideas on how to write the next book from another author. You might also hear of ways that you should maybe avoid. Like going back and rewriting the same 120 pages. Over and over again. Until the end of time.

Sidenote--I was working on Curses next to an author friend. She was struggling with her new book. Writing multiple drafts and it was killing her. She was up to eight, I think, and pulling out her hair (figuratively). I laughed and told her this was how it always went with me. Eight to ten drafts. Lots of reworking and editing. She said it was terrible and she didn't know how I was still writing. I'm not sure how, either, but i'm grateful and I hope I get to keep doing it.

Do you have any writing questions? Leave a comment and I'll try to answer it. I'm going to put this as Patreon Exclusive today, but open it up to the public in a few days. 

Thanks for reading my silly words.