Finally got past page 20 on that novel I started 3 years ago

I was stuck on the same scene for like 8 months. Kept rewriting the opening chapter over and over. Then last Tuesday I just skipped it entirely and jumped ahead to a part I actually wanted to write. Boom, 30 pages in 5 days. Turns out I didn't need a perfect start, I just needed momentum. Has anyone else hit a wall by getting hung up on the beginning?

2 comments

2 Comments

sethtorres1d ago

Yo I heard this really good tip from some writing podcast. They said treat the first draft like you're just throwing clay on a wheel. You can't shape it until you have something to work with. That totally clicked for me. Stopped trying to make every sentence perfect and just started getting words down. Rough is fine, you can clean it up later.

nora_park721d ago

@sethtorres nah that clay metaphor is cute and all but my first drafts are more like throwing half a bag of wet concrete at a wall and hoping it forms a shape. I've got paragraphs that read like a toddler explaining quantum physics after three cups of juice. But yeah I guess that's the point. Can't polish a turd if you don't have a turd to start with. At least that's what I tell myself while staring at my 47th unfinished chapter.