First drafts suck. “You can’t edit a blank page,” says Nora Roberts, as well as many well- known authors. And yet, why can’t I remember that?
Lately, I’ve been stuck on this scene, not because I’m stuck on what’s happening, but because it’s not perfect. And yet it’s my first draft.
It tends to happen to me a lot once I get to the middle. I’m editing this scene over and over again to make every emotional beat matter, instead of finishing the story and making notes for the 2nd draft (my normal chain of events if the heart continues to flutter and I can’t think of anything else).
I think I’m stalling. If I’m editing, then I’m still working on my story, but I don’t have to face that dreaded blank page. And it needs to be edited, right? Even if the experts say to write first, then edit. I’m stalling because I don’t know what to write next. The pages behind me are written, and I can keep going back to make them better. But the pages ahead of me are blank, and that’s scary.
My writer’s tip today is to just keep writing, push through that blank page. As much as I can edit what I’ve already written, I can’t edit a blank page. So if I don’t keep writing, I’ll have nothing left to edit!