Pulling an idea through in spite of the need to correct details
First, this question is not quite about writer's block or dealing with self-criticism.
I find myself often in the following situation: I want to write a short piece of non-fiction and have plenty of ideas to drive the discussion from a nice introduction to the heart of topic, to an end that wraps the discussion in a nice manner. I decide what to say in the first paragraph, with a view to catch the reader's attention and to introduce the theme in an original way...
...then I am so happy with the structure I want to develop, that I get bogged down trying to construct the perfect first sentence; and it takes a looong time to make it come out just right. Then for the second paragraph the same, and so on.
I am happy with the end results, but it is a drag. Now, I am aware of the notion that the first draft should be rough and that the editing process comes later. I am ok with that. What I need to know is how to quickly find the approximate turn of phrase I want in the beginning so I can continue into the main body of the piece?
This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/8865. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
1 answer
Use placeholders. If you have an idea of what you want a phrase to accomplish but you aren't there yet, just jot it down in brackets so you know what to do when you come back to polish. ("TK" is slang for "to come," and here it means "I will come back and finish this.")
The script for "Plato's Stepchildren" had Kirk being forced to kiss Uhura, making it the first interracial kiss broadcast on national television. [TK callback to Chekov as Russian, Spock as non-human, Sulu as Asian on bridge as full-fledged characters i/o stereotypes; this is another barrier shattered] While the director asked for several takes where they almost kissed, Shatner and Nichols were so keen on the groundbreaking idea that they deliberately ruined every take except the one with the historic kiss.
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