I have to apologize for missing the last couple of weeks. Between vacation and business, it just didn’t happen. Still, I’m back to talk about why it really is okay to suck. But first, the stats.
Drawing from the Well
I’m still working through the overall notes for the second draft. There are FAR-reaching implications that have to be settled. I’m also working on the calendar across all five arcs to make sure that travel time is accurate and simultaneous events are actually simultaneous. It’s a lot to figure out. Still, it’s working out and things are converging back together. At the end of Book II (which, I know, you haven’t read yet, but go with me on this), if you map things out, Meibor’s arc ends over a month after everyone else’s. That’s a problem. That means I’m working with a lot of him staying in one place for long periods of text (though short periods of time) while the rest of the cast roves around the countryside to catch up. I even figured out that Arc I needed four more chapters to make the timing right. The upshot here is that it slows down that arc which was moving far too fast before. See why editing is important?
Pages 319 (+6)
179,930 Words (+1,072)
Filling the Well
Since the last blog, a lot has been going on. I did manage to finish three books, though. The Stars My Destination was good enough for what it was. Again, it was an artifact of the time in which it was written and isn’t that every book really? System Collapse, the next book in the phenomenal Murderbot Diaries series, was just as good as the others. Loved it. And then there was A Deal with the Elf King by Elise Kova. It was also good. It gave me strong ACOTAR vibes but was less overbearing than that was. I liked it and look forward to the next entry in the standalone series. And I’m still a few books ahead of pace! I also started Water for Elephants after my last trip with my wife to NYC. That book is already incredible. The brand-new Broadway musical is outstanding. I can’t wait to sit down and watch the movie.
29/100 for #ProjectBookworm2024
WoW recently released a never-before-seen game mode called Plunderstorm. It’s a Battle Royale and was more fun than I expected. It’s largely centered around PvP, as you would expect from that game genre, but it was fun. I’ve gotten all I’m going to get out of it so it’s back to the regular game.
Well Chat
I covered this topic twice already (here on 3/11/20 and here on 11/9/21), but it’s really important. It’s also being brought back to me through my editing process as I read some rather rough pieces of my first draft of Book III. Let’s hit the high points again and then get into some undiscovered nuance.
- Allowing myself to “suck” freed me to get the words on the page as quickly as possible.
- You can tighten and perfect later.
- Obliterate your fear.
- It WILL suck at first; embrace it.
I have learned this lesson again and again through my writing career so far, including on Book III that I’m still working on. There is some nuance here, though, that I didn’t cover before. It really is okay to suck…for a time. There is a time and place to suck. That’s in the early drafts while you’re telling yourself the story and making sure all the relevant and necessary pieces are present with no extra (if at all possible). After that, though, comes the time of perfecting your work. Now, perfection is an illusion, but there is the ACT of perfecting your work that has value.
This is where I am now. I can no longer accept work that sucks. It has to make sense, be moving, and have purpose. All these requirements always existed on the book too. That’s the myth. Eventually, the suck has to turn to shine. It really is okay to suck until it’s not anymore. Give yourself the freedom to get imperfect work on the page so that it exists. Don’t forget, however, to give yourself the freedom to go ham on editing, chopping, rearranging, and putting the best lipstick on the pig of your work that you can find.
It really is okay to suck. Allowing yourself that freedom accelerates your writing. Just don’t take it to the extreme to where you’re publishing subpar work. There’s a balance. Most new writers swing too far toward perfection. Let yourself swing to the midline, but not into the Land of Mediocrity. See you next week.
May the tide carry you to safer shores.
BSG