When most people go ice skating they tend to cling to the edge huddled in their coats. They expect a few slips and maybe even a fall as they tentatively push their feet slowly forwards, keeping the barrier within gripping distance. Almost no-one expects to step onto the ice and skate to the centre of the rink, let alone perfecting a spectacular six spin pirouette. You’d expect that to take years of practice and coaching.
Be Kind To Yourself
So why are you so hard on your self with writing? Why do so many writers feel like failures when they don’t pop out a best seller first go? They look at rewrites as a big black cross against their work, when really that rewrite is just a stepping stone to producing a better story. And there will be further rewrites, because who gets things right first go? Books are written in layers with new threads, ideas and character arcs woven in or snipped out as you go.
Heck, even Steven King binned his early draft of Carrie and only worked on it after his wife convinced him it was something worth developing further.
First Draft Experiments
In your first draft you are often telling yourself the story, mapping out what and who goes where. You might not know why at this point. The first draft is often just a means of getting it all out of your mind and onto the page. This is sometimes inelegantly called The Vomit Draft.
Expect this draft to be ugly. It will be raw, the pacing will be off and the emotional connection could go either way, too full on, or as cold and soulless as the supermarket freezer aisle. But that’s ok. You’re going to rewrite it. All those inconsistencies will be fixed and smoothed out. The motivation and plot driver will be sharpened. Your characters will be bold and compelling, eventually. On this draft or the next. For there will be others. That’s just the life of a writer, even for pros like Stephen King.
Time To Train
Books need time to percolate in your mind. They need space to experiment, to play with ideas and plot points. You can try things out. Nobody gets to see them until you share them. But let’s go back to that six-spin pirouette on the ice, you have to share your ice skating moves with a coach or partner so they can check your form, to help you perfect your technique and nip any bad habits in the bud.
Crit partners or paid critiques work in a similar way. They ask questions you may not have thought of or considered. It’s not a personal attack, it’s a helping hand that can guide you to mend your plot or to see your book from another perspective that can unlock key character traits or make you ramp up the conflict to the perfect pitch. It will encourage you to take your coat off, don a sequinned leotard and dare to leave the edge as you learn and grow and make that spin more possible than you hoped. It might feel scary at first but once you start skating confidently through the empty rink middle where few dare to glide, you will start to know you can do it.
Try New Moves
But whether you are skating for fun or training to qualify for the Olympic team, practising the same routine over and over only helps to a point. At some stage you’ll want to try out new moves and a whole new routine. That will stretch your muscles in ways you hadn’t realised was possible, adding in new tricks and turns as you go. So, write another book. Not the sequel, save that for when you have a book deal. Write something completely different. Something that excites you. Something ambitious. Maybe even something in a new genre or age range with a different tempo to master.
You will need to learn a new set of rules and skills. When you finish that book, take a break. Get back to your old one and see how your view of it has changed. What still works? What doesn’t? What would you change, expand or cut completely? You will find the routine you once skated feels different now, because you’ve grown and developed in ways you couldn’t have imagined.
Glide
Now find your balance, leave that safety barrier behind you, and glide out towards the middle. The next stepping stone of progress is to begin this rewrite. Progress is in your sights and now you don’t have to shuffle forward with trepidation. If you fall you have the skills to get back up and spin with a smile. The edge is far behind you, and the ice is gleaming bright as a fresh new page, just waiting for you to craft your story.
Kate Walker Children's Author 