12/05/2023
So... that quote by Stephen King: "Talent is as cheap as table salt. What separates the talented writer from the successful one, is a lot of hard work" is true.
First drafts can always be brilliant in that first-draft way. Same with second drafts. And thirds. And fourths. But, if you are writing a novel (or short story), you have to be willing to work your ass off and delete everything for the sake of the story.
You have to acknowledge that maybe zero words from the first draft will appear in the last but you needed them in order to write that latest draft (a book is never finished, only set to the side.) I applaud all the writers I know who do the work and revel in it.
This writer's life is no easy undertaking. That said, I can't imagine doing anything else. Of late, I have found much-needed solace and refuge in the world on the page. I'm not even thinking about publishing as much as I am thinking about making the world in the novel whole and full and cleansing and compelling and all the things I need and crave in the one off the page.
One more thing: I'm teaching another advanced fiction studio for The Muse Writers Center beginning Feb. 13th and running 8 weeks on Tuesdays and then (dream come true), I'm going to lead an 8-month novel workshop. You'll have to apply, and some of you will be personally invited to join (and some of you I'll beg), but it's going to be incredible because we'll start at page one, meet every other week, May 2024 to February 2025, and as we workshop, we'll talk about all those things a novel needs, and we'll write a full first draft, taking pacing, character, point of view, rising action, climax, etc. into consideration. We will really dive into story and what's happening on the page and what needs to happen on the page. It will be for writers open and receptive to revision and pushing forward. I'm super excited about it. (The advanced workshop will be limited to six students).
I'm actually rewriting my fifth novel (post first draft completion) for the sixth time (complete rewrite), and I'm enjoying the hell out of it because I know these characters. I think I know most everything about them.
