One of the best writing tips I ever received was when Elizabeth Boyle gave a workshop at our local RWA chapter. She suggested writing the story from start to finish without going back to fix it. At the time I was spending way too much time perfecting my first three chapters. After listening to Elizabeth, I made the decision to write my story from start to finish before I began rewriting and revising.
This change made a positive impact in my writing. Once I finish the rough draft, I can go back to the first chapter, knowing how I want to tell the story. I know what to bring into focus, and what tangents I can delete.
If you’re working on a story, consider writing it from start to finish without looking back. That means:
- Don’t go back to fix something. If you have to change something about a character or the storyline, make a notation on the page you’re working on and keep going forward.
- Don’t read what you’ve already written. (I can’t remember if Elizabeth suggested this, but this became a bad habit of mine that I had to break!) Some authors read what they’ve written the day before, and if you can do that without editing, go for it. Otherwise you’ll start tweaking and wasting precious writing time. Keep going forward.
- Don’t worry about how it looks. No one else is going to see it. Anyway, rough drafts are supposed to be messy. You might have a random scene or a snippet of conversation that doesn’t go anywhere. Now isn’t the time to worry about word count, smooth transitions or brilliant dialogue. You’ll have time to clean it up later.
Elizabeth has a lot of helpful tips on her blog. You’ll learn a lot!
Thanks, Susanna! It is always great to hear that something I uttered helps. I know if I start looking back with my writing I am only going to get mired down. Treat your manuscript like a traffic accident and you are cop directing traffic–keep moving, don’t look at the pile up, just keep moving.