I’m interested in getting your thoughts about stuff I see and hear, quotes I read, stuff that passes as knowledge – and starting an authorey conversation.
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This gives us permission to write our early works…
Many people have said it in many ways. J. K. Rowling said you have to kill a lot of trees first. Same idea. But you get better every time, and things you had to work to remember to do at first are now a habit, and thing that were a mountainous task at first are now routine. You’ll get there. Your next story is always your best. Believe that. I do.
Very much agreed. Practice makes one perfect and one must do without fear what one loves
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I like the fact that established writers admit you have to have early works (obviously) and your early works are not going to be as good as your later stuff. Hopefully. But there’s no way to get to the later stuff unless you have the early stuff, therefore you have to write bad stuff first. You just have to.
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Very very true !
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[…] Source: What Do YOU Think? […]
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Thank you!
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As someone else said, you can’t edit a blank page. Even bad writing can be fixed…trust me on this one 🙂
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Get it out of your head and onto the page. Then we can start.
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I just complete the editing process of my 3rd book with my editor. It was humbling, to say the least, but this is why we need editors! I had lost objectivity and missed many places where I’d used the passive tense. Also, my unnecessary, overuse of commas was embarrassing. Many words that should have been hyphenated were not. And yet I learned where my weaknesses are, which counts for everything. I kept the original mark-up so I can commit my errors to memory. I marvel at editors!
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Brilliant. And you’ll do some of that again so it’s smart to keep the original and edited versions to compare.
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I agree with this quote. Another one I have said time and time again over the remains of early work “If at first you don’t succeed. Try, try again.”
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Of course!
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I agree, but like Claire said, you have to have someone who is telling you what is bad. If you don’t seek out feedback, you’ll never know what you’re doing works or not. Putting down words is only a percentage of honing your craft: read editing books, read in your genre, join a critique group, edit for others, attend writing workshops.
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I definitely agree with being a critique partner. You learn a lot and you teach a lot and everybody gets better.
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Abaslutely! LOL 🙂
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I’ve often read some of what I wrote, early on and thought, this couldn’t have possible come from MY head.. then I felt better realizing how much I have grown. AND I rejoice at the thought of much more I can grow.
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Right. Sometimes others say it and then you’re thinking, wow, did my early stuff really suck?
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Pondered re-releasing certain pieces under the pen name… Ima Dyson
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Like… a vacuum cleaner?
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If I’m gonna suck, then I want to be on everyone’s mind!
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If you suck bad enough, you will!
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I agree with this quote and it’s corollary, bad writing is better than no writing.
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Ehh… depends on how bad.
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