The Long Way: An argument for not taking shortcuts

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I think we’ve all come across a million videos about a shortcut for better bread, or a worksheet to help you outline in ten minutes. I was thinking about this last night, and it occurred to me that no one is arguing for the long way. So, I’m gonna do it. Here you go, an argument for not taking shortcuts.

When was the last time you read an inspirational sports story? Did it talk about the athlete–who has achieved so much in their life. That they decided to call it quits every day a couple of hours early; and how they didn’t show up sometimes? Or did it talk about their shortcuts? No, these stories are always about the amazing perseverance, grit, and endurance the athlete has to reach their amazing level of success.

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Author or Hobby Writer

The long way

When you think about your writing goals, are you the kind of person that is looking for a quick fix to put a bandage on a problem for the moment? Or, are you the type of person that is looking to master your craft? The difference in these two ideas is really the difference between the author or the hobby writer.

Mindset Differences: The long way

A person with an author mindset. When faced with setbacks on their writing journey; they will for solutions. For example, if they are mentally exhausted and cannot imagine writing to their 1000 word goal. They may decrease the goal for a time. So, instead of writing 1000, they are writing 200. This may not allow for fast progress. But it will be progress.

A hobby writer may decide to stop writing for a while, or maybe they’ll see if they can find some tips and tricks to help them. But since the writing is a hobby, it’s not that big of a deal if they decide to stop for a while.

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Rejection differences

When facing negative feedback, or rejection, there is going to be a difference in mindset between the author and the hobby writer as well. When receiving negative feedback, and author will take some time to process and then look back at their work to see if the thing makes the piece stronger. It’s also possible, when faced with several pieces of feedback from different sources, they may sort through them to find the ones that work best with their overall goals.

A hobby writer may find feedback to be a difficult and painful process, they may feel personally attacked or ridiculed. It is not that an author doesn’t feel these feelings. It’s simply that the author can put them aside in order to make their work stronger. The same basic things happen with rejection. The author can take it as part of the process and then move onward. The hobby writer will have a hard time with rejection, and take it as a rejection of themselves as a person.

Finishing a Draft: The Long Way

Once the author has finished a rough draft, they will put it away, and then start the revision, re-writing process after some time has passed, and they have gained some distance from the work. A hobby writer, once they have finished a draft, they may be so excited to revise that they start right away, or they may want to start querying/submitting, or they may even self-publish right away.

Everyone starts somewhere. Everyone wants to use shortcuts/has used shortcuts. The difference between a hobby writer and an author is time, experience, and mindset. It is perfectly fine to be a hobby writer. It is perfectly fine to be an author or aspiring author. My point here is that the long way around is normally the best way to get to where you want to be.

There are no shortcuts for writing and reading. Is there a time when you couldn’t hit your writing goals? What did you set them at so that they felt attainable?

Final Draft: How do you Know When you’ve written it?

I finished a first draft of my latest project a little while ago. Ever since I wrote the end, I’ve been both excited to move on, and also scared of the process. I’d like to discuss all the expected steps in writing, and help people realize when they’ve come to the end. First, we’ll discuss the steps, and then how you know if you’ve arrived at your final draft.

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Steps

  1. Outline
  2. Zero Draft
  3. First Draft
  4. Second Draft
  5. Third Draft
  6. Final Draft

Outlining

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This step can take a lot or a little bit of time, depending on which type of writer you are. Even the most seasoned of discovery writers will still have at least some idea of the plot before they sit down to work.

An outline can be as simple as a couple of index cards that have a few vague sentences about your plot. Or as complex as a codex with character backstories and sketches, along with the economy of your fantasy world going back 1000 years.

At the end of the day, the outline should help you get started. They do say that you either spend a lot of time in edits later, or you plan everything in our outline and don’t have to do so many edits at the end to figure out how to make your plot work together.

When you are done with your outline, you move onto…

Zero Draft

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The zero draft is the draft that you are okay to mess up a bunch. I like the term zero draft, because it feels like, with this draft there are no stakes. One of the best things you can do for your writing habit is to take the pressure off. If you feel like you need to have a certain feeling, or write during a certain time or in a specific location or using something special; you are putting too much pressure on yourself.

If, because you have to be in a certain place or use something specific to write, and you find yourself not wanting to do so because of it. Then, stop. Writing is a difficult and messy process. There is no reason why, if you are thinking about something, not to jot it down anywhere. You can write on and with almost anything. Although, I wouldn’t suggest trying to write the great American novel with blood. Ha.

The zero draft is the first time the story that’s been in your head for so long will come together. Even if you’ve been outlining for weeks and feel like you know everything that will happen, at least in my experience, it will change. The zero draft gives you permission to make the changes, to allow all the messy nonsense to happen on the page.

Then, after you’ve finished your draft, you’ll move onto….

The First Draft

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It’s okay for your first draft to be messy. You also want to go through and begin clean up.

It’s always important to think globally before you think locally. By this, I simply mean to fix big problems before you start fiddling with the small ones. So, if you’ve outlined a lot maybe you don’t worry so much how your plot hangs together, but it is important to be aware of all of the big idea items. Make sure that the gun that was on the wall in act 1 is used during the climax in act 3.

After you finish a first draft, you may feel like giving it to an alpha reader. That’s fine. Not necessary, but fine.

Then, you’ll move onto…

The Second Draft

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When your work is ready to be considered a second draft, it should have a plot that makes sense. It’s okay to still have grammar errors at the second draft.

This means, that during the second draft, you should start working through which characters are doing what and why, does it make sense for the overall plot? You should have a working understanding of all of your characters and their motivations, you should know if it makes sense for a character to run into a dangerous situation, and if it doesn’t make sense but you need it for the plot, then you need to figure out what kind of extraordinary circumstances they would require in order to go into the situation, and then make those present in the work.

Once the plot is in line, and the characters are acting in ways that make sense, you can send the draft to an alpha reader. Still not required, but definitely going to be a good option.

Then, you’ll move onto…

The Third Draft (not the final draft yet)

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Edits. This is where you will want to start editing. You want your syntax to shine. The words should work together to build the story you are trying to tell. Editing also happens from “big” to “small.” As you’ve gone through the drafting process, you will have already done some editing. The first type of editing, developmental editing, is what you are going through as you get your plot in line, and make sure your characters make sense.

In the third draft, you get more granular. Starting with line editing. Line editing is where you focus on the flow and style of your prose. Then, you’ll want to do proofreading, where you identify and correct your grammar and spelling errors.

Now, it is absolutely time to give the draft to several beta readers for feedback. You can always give them a list of things you are concerned about, and make sure to get feedback on those things. It is not helpful to have a couple friends read your work, and tell you it’s amazing. If you want to feel good, it’s wonderful. But, if you want constructive feedback, you’ll most likely need to find people who are going to be impartial judges of your work. That is the best way to get it to shine

Final Draft

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Once you’ve received and corrected the novel as much as you can, taking into mind all the feedback from your readers, then it will be time to send it out to wherever you want it to go.

Congratulations on finishing!!