Should I write something I don't care about first?
When I was 14, I had an idea for a novel but never wrote anything. I'm now 24 and just finished participating in National Novel Writing Month (nanowrimo.org) where I wrote a 25k word "long outline" of my novel.
I'm now expanding and editing my novel. I'm very pleased with my plot and would like to do a good job with it. However, I lack experience writing and would hate to ruin an idea I've become so fond of by making it the first thing I write (and therefore terrible).
Should I write something I don't care about in order to "train"? Will writing my novel ruin it? I am interested in much advice.
This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/20080. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
1 answer
1) Mercedes Lackey famously rewrote her first trilogy seventeen times before it was published. You will not ruin your idea by writing it.
2) Even if you get your "first million terrible words" out of the way first, almost every first draft of every novel needs work. Your novel will still need editing whether your have experience or not.
3) Having an idea you love may keep you more motivated than "this crap thing I'm writing just to write."
4) You can write other things in the universe of your novel (short stories, backstories, character diaries) to get more experience, which will contribute to your novel before your start it.
0 comment threads
0 comment threads