4 Helpful Things to Remember As You Write Your First Book

How to accept that your first draft will be terrible.

Photo by Josh Applegate on Unsplash

I’ve rewritten the beginning of my book at least ten times.

In her book, Bird By Bird, Anne Lamott says you’ll restart periodically because, each time, you’ll discover new details about your story and characters.

However, that’s not what I was doing. Restarting was becoming a problem. I wouldn’t give myself a chance to uncover mistakes; I would declare that my writing was terrible and go back to the beginning.

I couldn’t get passed the start. My writing process had become tiring, like when you listen to the same song five times in a row.

I decided enough was enough. I wanted to complete my novel, and that wasn’t going to happen unless I managed to get past the first five pages.

With (yet another) idea for how my novel should start, I wrote. This time, however, I continued. It’s been about two weeks since I made that choice, and I haven’t stopped.

Is it perfect? Not even close.

I made notes of how the beginning can improve, so I know I have to go back and rewrite later, just as Anna Lamott said. However, this time is different. This isn’t about being insecure. These are real mistakes…