Making My Mess into a Masterpiece
Sorting out the plot and the characters of my NaNoWriMo manuscript
My first book took me twenty years to write. My second took me about a year. I can thank NaNoWriMo for that. I didn’t waste time editing while writing the first draft. When the draft was done, I had something to edit.
Edding’s Advice to New Writers
David Eddings, (July 7, 1931 — June 2, 2009 ) American author of several epic fantasy series: The Belgariad (1982–84), The Malloreon (1987–91), The Elenium (1989–91), The Tamuli (1992–94), and The Dreamers (2003–06). gave this advice to new writers:
“My advice to the young writer is likely to be unpalatable in an age of instant successes and meteoric falls. I tell the neophyte: Write a million words–the absolute best you can write, then throw it all away and bravely turn your back on what you have written. At that point, you’re ready to begin.”
My advice isn’t quite as severe as Eddings’ was. As I see it, novice writers can often edit their early works until it is publishable. They just need to keep editing until they get it right. They might have to lay it aside for a while and then return to it, but if the project continues to interest them, they can eventually edit it into submission. It does take about a…
