Hey everyone! Melissa here, and I can already feel myself getting worked up over the first sentence on the page. Everyone has that fear, the first line you draw, the first word you type, the very irrational, yet real, feeling that you can possibly mess up the perfection which is a blank page. So, how do you deal with it? Easy! Write out whatever comes to your mind first. And if you hate it, don’t delete it until you have at least a paragraph typed. By that point, your brain has probably already figured out what it wants to say, and it will just be fixing a word here and a phrase there.
Okay, Cora! That’s all I got! Guest Writer, signing off!
…Okay, I didn’t get off that easily. Believe it or not, I actually don’t think the first words are the hardest thing you’ll come across when writing. In fact, I have had hundreds of thousands of first words. Ask any poor soul still waiting for chapters of my Hardy Boy/Nancy Drew fan fiction, or for that matter, my Fictionpress account I haven’t touched in years. I posted all the time, wrote at regular intervals.
I went back and reread my stuff years later. Then it hit me.
As a writer, I HATED it. Here are things I wrote when I was seventeen, eighteen, nineteen… and at twenty one, I couldn’t look at it. Now, the stories were fantastic; I have always prided myself as a great storyteller. But the plot progression, the characters, even the writing structure… I could not, in good faith, continue the stories as they were.
But they were also my brain babies, my pride and joy. How could I alter them? They came from the place of inspiration! Inspiration is gold, and cannot be spoiled!
And with that thought, so many stories were left without endings, without love, and without closure for anyone.
Years later, I find myself in a similar predicament, with one story I had intended to rewrite all along, since it started out as a writer’s block play scene for me and a few friends. To me, the story had potential for so much more, and I would drag it to the ends of the earth until I could give it the story it deserved.
Oh boy, did I drag it. For five years, I couldn’t even touch it. The memories it brought back were too painful. But I started to give it thought, and inspiration struck. And I started the rewrite.
And what do you know, the rewrite was better! …And… just as bland with no plot as the first. But here lies the first issue. My “rewrite” was pretty much just rephrasing and rehashing out what was already there. I wasn’t writing anything new. Sure, I added a few scenes, introduced some characters early, cut out a few useless ones, tried to synchronize the villains, but still, it was the same story, with nothing driving it. The characters did what they were supposed to do because that was what was written in the book. So I felt like I had wasted two years on this, and pouted for another year. For those of you counting at home, that is a total of eight years.
I’ve started again. I have done brainstorming. I have done character worksheets to the point where I know my main character like the back of my hand. (Love interest, maybe not so much, but baby steps.) I have a vague idea of a plot for the series. I know how I want it to start, and where I want it to end. I even have my first words already written! And they are so well done that I have already broken hearts! (I’m still going back and changing a few things. It is rough.)
But the one thing that keeps me from moving forward… CHANGE.
How dare I try and tamper with inspiration’s gift? My rewrite will never be as good as the original story. My characters are so set in their ways, the stage has been set. I can’t change it after this long, no matter how bad or good it is. (Sound familiar?)
My brain baby should just stay that way. A baby, and MINE. No growth, ever.
You can say I’m a bit of a helicopter parent when it comes to my writing, which is hilarious when you find out the way I write (setting up obstacles and letting the characters themselves decide what to do with it, regardless of what I want.)
So, how do we let go?
Well, first off, you get someone else to look at your writing. I have my Cora, and also another friend that I give it to afterwards who knows nothing about the original. When I told this friend that I wanted to introduce magic into this fantasy world that had none to begin with, he looked at what I had given him and within two seconds had this whole magic plot written out that was so simple, I should have thought of it! But I couldn’t, because I was too close, wrapped up in the world of what had been, and not what it could be. Those friends will be your life savers.
Second, file that original copy somewhere far, far away. Even if you’re not doing a total rewrite, giving it some distance is never a bad thing. You hear of authors who put pieces away for months at a time, then come back to it with fresh eyes. This is no different, except you need your fresh eyes focused on something else. Since my original is digital, I started using pen and paper for the rewrite so I can’t distract myself with the original. Sure, the ideas and old story are still floating around in my brain, but it isn’t as loud as when it is right there in front of me, yelling at me to open it and look at it.
Third, don’t be afraid to write something completely different than what you intended. Even if it ends up going too far away from where you originally wanted to go, you can always go back and write the scene again. Sometimes, you have to see the other option to know that it isn’t the direction you want to go. And sometimes, you’ll find you actually like the new direction it is taking. And other times, you’ll find a third choice halfway between where you went and where you thought it should go, and it balances itself out perfectly.
Whatever the circumstances, don’t get caught up in your own head about what it should look like. Give your story, and yourself, the chance to grow. You’ll find you’ll be happier in the long run if you just… let it go.
And with that now stuck in your head, I will sign off for real. Later!
~Melissa
~*~
Melissa is one of my closest friends and I love her to bits and pieces. I’m so tickled she agreed to this. <3 She spins a suspenseful and intriguing tale, that’s for sure. She knows how to write characters you can fall in love with and how to break your heart. This girl is brutal to those characters! Her plots know no end and she isn’t afraid to write the hard stuff. She’s taught me so much and helped me to grow as a writer and as a person. My go-to brainstorming buddy and my best friend. Aside from writing awful cliff-hangers, she’s also handy in the graphic design world!
Change is so hard sometimes. We put so much of our hearts into what we write that rejection and revision feels personal. And that hurts. We can’t bear to let go what we love so much and worked so hard on. But change is good. It’s the only way we’re going to grow and get better at what we do. In writing and in life.
Change isn’t easy, by any means, but it is a necessary step in the process. I love your advice here! Keeping the old drafts, taking space away from them, and giving yourself the freedom to explore other avenues, even if you know you aren’t’ going to use them are fantastic ways to take that first step to letting change in and growth polish our stories. Thank you so much, Mel, for taking the time to share with us!