Let me tell you the true story of two writers who have many things in common—and one important difference.
Both writers had completed first drafts for mysteries with an edge of romance. They are both avid readers with little writing experience or instruction. I had the privilege of doing manuscript evaluations for them. This was the first attempt at a novel for both of them. They had created interesting female protagonists and stories with great potential, and they both demonstrated an ability to write well with a unique voice. There were many positives about both manuscripts.
The First Draft Is Not Ready for Publication
But it was clear that their work was at an early draft stage, and although the manuscripts held promise, there were significant issues with plotting, pacing, characterization, and style that would need to be addressed in revision.
As always, I delivered the written evaluation (a comprehensive and detailed set of notes) as part of a conversation with the writer, and, as always, I pointed out what worked in the manuscript as well as what didn’t work, and I offered encouragement along with the reminder that no one gets it right the first time. No one. Multiple drafts are the norm for the best writers.
The first writer — I’ll call her “Ms. Pink” — eagerly soaked up the advice and asked a lot of questions. We had a lively to and fro about her story, her characters, and writing in general. There was a lot of laughter as we talked (just as there was great humor in her work). She said she enjoyed the process of writing for itself. Writing a book was like a giant puzzle to her, and she wanted to see if she could figure it out. My feedback and our conversation had provided her with more information about how to solve the puzzle, and she looked forward to digging into her manuscript again.
The other writer, “Ms. Blue,” didn’t receive my feedback quite so well, even though I provided her with the same gentle but realistic mixture of positives, negatives, and encouragement. Much of my advice, she said, was familiar, because a family member had told her the same things. Shortly after we talked, Ms. Blue wrote me to say that she would not continue to work on the book, she would not read my written evaluation, and she would give up writing.
Writing Is Easy. Writing Well Is Work.
Ms. Pink told me that family members often asked her when she was going to be published. She answered them by saying something to the effect that if she played tennis, they wouldn’t be asking her when she was going to play at Wimbledon, or if she played golf they wouldn’t be asking her when she was going to be in the Masters Tournament. Good answers! Great attitude! She understood that learning to write well would be a process, and she was willing to invest her time in it, because she love to write.
But Ms. Blue had apparently believed she could fast track to Wimbledon, and when it became clear that wouldn’t be as easy as she thought, she gave up. It made me sad that she gave up, but she had set herself up for disappointment with faulty notions about what it takes to be a writer.
Many successful writers will tell you they have “practice” novels stuck away in a drawer. And I remember listening to one famous writer tell about how he wished his first novel had never been published because it was an embarrassment to him.
We understand that learning to play a musical instrument takes practice, and we’d never assume we could perform at Carnegie Hall after doodling around with a violin for a few months. You wouldn’t want a surgeon who had picked up a scalpel for the first time to take out your appendix. Yet somehow we believe, some of us believe, we can successfully write a book — a hugely complex task — without the training, time, and practice it takes to do it well.
Some people think writing is easy, because they’ve only seen the results. They read a book and think the words fell neatly onto the page with maybe a few typos that needed fixing. They haven’t seen the sweat and tears that have been shed. They haven’t seen the practice and the reading that have built the writer’s toolbox. They haven’t seen the first draft and all the revisions that made it better.
Writing is easy. Writing well is work.
Ms. Blue isn’t willing to do the work. Apparently, she could only see it as a chore, revision as punishment.
Ms. Pink is willing to do the necessary work. In fact, she finds joy in it.
Be like Ms. Pink, and it seems to me you have a much better chance of getting to Carnegie Hall.
Loving the work of writing is success, if you want to know my opinion. It alone is what will make your pursuit of writing meaningful, what will carry you through your writing doldrums and challenges and all the times there are no tangible rewards.
Judy Lindquist
I love this! You are so right about the work of writing being in the feedback, critiques, revising and rewriting. That is when we grow as writers and our work improves.
Thank you so much for this great piece.
Mary Ann de Stefano
Thank you, Judy. I’m glad it resonated with you.
Susie Baxter
You said it perfectly, “Writing is easy. Writing well is work.”
Mary Ann de Stefano
I’ve read your book, Susie. I know you know that to be true!
Anne Dalton
This is a fantastic column! Thanks, Mary Ann. You are a treasure to FWA and to writers everywhere.
Mary Ann de Stefano
Awww, *blushing.*
Charlene Edge
A much needed piece of wisdom for all of us writers, no matter what stage of writing we’re in. Thank you, Mary Ann!
This valuable post reminds me of the old joke about a cocktail party where a surgeon is chatting with a small group of people, including a writer. The surgeon says, “Yeah, I think I’ll take a weekend off and write a novel.” The writer says, “Yeah, I think I’ll take a weekend off and do brain surgery.”
Mary Ann de Stefano
You’re one of the hardest working writers I know! I associate the telling of that joke with Phil Deaver.
Veronica H. Hart (Ronnie)
I put my first novel through a writing critique group eleven years ago. Not my first book ever, but the first book I felt might be “good enough.” I loved all my characters and the story. After two meetings, I cried and wondered why I even bothered. I mulled over the notes and after sulking for a while, I nodded to myself, made some changes, and saw how much better the story worked. Since then, all my work goes through two critique groups and then gets shipped off to a couple of early readers who pick up on plot flaws, typos, and other incidentals that the sporadic readers in a critique group might have missed. I always find it fun to write. The last thing I think of when I sit down to write is that I’m “working.” By the way, that “first” book also won First Place for Humor at the Royal Palm Literary Awards in 2009.
Mary Ann de Stefano
Ronnie, It seems to me several members of your critique groups are pretty darn successful at winning awards and being published!
Erwin Wunderlich
The role of a listened-to developmental editor can’t be understated! Get those MSS’ cleanup up for 2021!!
Mary Ann de Stefano
It’s enlightening to read the correspondence between Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Rawlings and Wolfe and their editor Maxwell Perkins to see how he influenced their work.
claudia chianese
Thanks for your clarity and perspective. I was getting discouraged by the amount of time it’s taking . . . just saying, Claudia
Mary Ann de Stefano
You’ll get there! If you feel you’re not making progress and spinning in circles that might be a good time to seek some advice.
Lee Gramling
I agree. But I have one more piece of advice for aspiring writers, which I learned long ago in a writers’ workshop:
Whenever someone offers a negative critique, don’t get defensive — but don’t accept it at face value either. Accept the fact that SOMETHING is wrong there — something that disturbed the reader. His/her opinion of what that is may be incorrect and suggestions for fixing it may be pure booshwah. But it’s still something that needs fixing. Trust yourself to figure out what that is and then go back to work on it.
Also regarding First Novel in a Drawer. I’ve got one of those and I’m firmly convinced it isn’t worth trying to fix. When that happens, don’t waste your time beating a dead horse. Write another novel! It’s almost always going to be better than the last one. (If you don’t think you have another one in you then you’re obviously no writer.)
Mary Ann de Stefano
Your advice echoes that of one of my writing mentors. He used to say that readers are always right about WHERE the problem in the story is, but almost always wrong about HOW TO FIX IT!
I once suggested to a writer that she may have written right past the real ending of her story, and she said her husband had told her that the story needed to be longer. I braced for a frustrated response because of the conflicting advice, but she then said, “That just tells me there’s a problem with my ending.” She went on to turn her short story into a novella that was picked up for publication.
Erwin Wunderlich
Miss hearing you talk at the old Rawlings conferences!
Jerold H. Tabbott
True-although I can’t say I feel joy in editing.
Most new writers don’t know there are many resources out there to help them. And one of the best is the critique group. I had now idea myself, when I finally got my nerve back and tried writing. I wrote a 140,000 word “first draft” without the benefit of any advice (yes, I feel stupid about that now), but when I finally started investigating on the internet I found useful tools like Writer’s Digest, local Meet-Up critique groups, and other resources.
The first new thing I learned is that 140,000 words is a tad long even for a SciFi. The second thing-once I began going to critique groups-is that there are learnable skills to writing a compelling story.
In my own experience, I was a bit terrified of my first couple of critique group meetings. I was 64 years old, wanted to write SciFi, and felt embarrassed. I thought it might look silly of me to start so late. Most others were at least 25-30 years younger.
Fortunately, I got over my early jitters and learned we all wanted the same thing-to learn how to be more effective writers by understanding better how readers read.
There are so many finer points as to how our words are assembled on a
page that affect how a reader experiences our work. And most new writers haven’t been exposed to many nuances of the craft that help keep readers glued to their stories. Finding a good critique group and meeting (especially in person) with other writers is immensely rewarding. And not just for the lessons you learn.
The SciFi/Fantasy group I joined is a mix of all ages. The youngest I’ve met was only 16. Yet not only is the dedication to learning shared by all, and the variety of backgrounds and perspectives are rejunating when firsthand. We are all friends and care for each other’s work.
In the end, I learned my own novel contained two separate stories. I split it at the logical and proper point, rewrote the first story, incorporating the many new things I’d learned about characterization and pacing, and wound up with a notably more professional story I can be proud to say I wrote. I’m working on book two now, enjoying it, and finding the craft skills I learned make writing much easier.
Mary Ann de Stefano
I love revision, the making-it-better part. The creation part is more of a strain for me, but overall I love putting words together. I’m glad that you took the leap to find a critique group and that it has been a good experience for you. I think you will find that you will continue to raise the bar on yourself and your writing will get better and better the more you write—and the more you critique other people’s work. Critiquing forces us to express WHY something does or doesn’t work, and we learn from that things we can take into our own writing.
Robert R Amon Jr
My book, “Rice Roots,” was finally published this year in St Augustine. Based on a diary I kept in Vietnam in 1969, it took me a lifetime to revise the finished product, having had the pleasure of having the manuscript reviewed and edited by many noteworthy, knowledgeable and savvy people.
I then submitted it for consideration this year for the Royal Palm Literary Award but alas, it fell short.
That’s okay though, as I enjoyed the journey and the critiques and never once quit on the project. But I ran out of time.. I’m seventy-five years old now!
The moral of this story is this: if you have a dream, pursue it, and keep on going, no matter how many times others inject face-slapping criticism. Learn from their opinions and corrections and make the work as perfect as possible!
When finished, if you don’t come out on top with your first competition entry, remind yourself of how much fun it was to write the finished product. For me, it was never about winning anything anyway. It was always about passing on my Vietnam memoir to my seven grandkids to pass along to their grandkids.
Mary Ann de Stefano
I’m so glad you wrote that book, Robert. Many vets remain quiet about war-time experiences, perhaps because they are too painful, perhaps because that period of time in our history was so difficult. I’m glad you wrote your memories down and are sharing them. Your story needed to be told.
Mary Brown
Robert, I’m sorry you’re giving up at seventy-five. I’m eighty-four and working on my fourth novel. None are published – yet. I belong to SCBWI and two critique groups. One group writes children’s books. All are either published by traditional publishers or self-published. The other group writes everything from Y/A to science fiction screen plays. I’ve written middle grade (set in 1945) and Y/A (set in 1919). I’m working on an adult novel now set in the 1920s. Such fun. To be honest, I haven’t put much effort into being published. The minute an agent asked for a synopsis I freeze.