All my life, I've been a bit of a perfectionist. And by "bit," I mean I'm the kind of person who used to get pissed if I made less than a perfect score on an assignment. I would compare my test scores to my friends, and feel really inadequate if I didn't have the best marks. If a piece of artwork turned out anything to be anything different than what I had in my head, to me it was garbage. If somebody beat me in a competition, it was because I clearly didn't try hard enough or want it bad enough.
It was really, really toxic. A lot of the time, it was also egotistical and gross. I had this awful ambition to be, not the best I could be, but the best, period. Fortunately, as an adult, I've deflated my own head a bit and shed some of those toxic thoughts and behaviors (because, holy shit, I was an asshole to friends who beat me at things sometimes).
The one thing that hasn't gone away, though, is the underlying insecurity that if I show somebody something that isn't my absolute best, they'll think less of me. I mess up a drill in roller derby practice, I have to actively remind myself that my teammates won't think I'm terrible, they'll know I just need some help and encouragement (because they are all amazing people). If I let housework slide, I have to remind myself that people don't care that I have dishes in my sink and they still love me.
The really nasty one, though, is the conviction that if my writing friends read work of mine that hasn't been edited, they'll think I'm a horrible, stupid fool who has no talent and should die in a fire.
I have a lot of insecurities about my own unedited writing. And I think it's setting me back.
Getting through stuff like this has always been hell for me, and it's never been easy. But I'm trying. Nobody poops out a first draft that is 100% perfect. Hell, I don't think anybody can have a finished draft that is 100% perfect. There are always things that can be tweaked or improved, and there are always ways to become a better writer. But that's a good thing, I think. Perfection is boring.
The point of this post, really, is to say that I know I've got a ways to go in dealing with my own issues with toxic perfectionism. I'm not so bad as I was, but I still shoot myself in the foot by hoarding things I think aren't good enough.
The point is that I know this, and I'm working on fixing it. And that if you're out there reading this and you struggle with perfectionism, too, you're not alone in that. Let's all just try and remember that nobody writes a perfect first draft, everyone has bad days, and that's okay.
'Til next time,
J.
Monday, May 25, 2015
Monday, April 27, 2015
Editing: It's Important.
I've had this post sitting in my drafts for months. It's taken me a while to sort out my thoughts coherently enough to write a post I'm satisfied with. Also, I forgot it was in my drafts. Mostly that second one.
But here goes:
The other day (and by the other day, I mean several months ago), while browsing Pinterest, I saw this pin a fellow writer had shared. It was a graphic that read, "Give up on perfection. As an author, your job is to write as much as possible. Turn over responsibility of polishing and perfecting to an editor."
I read it again to make sure I hadn't made a mistake, and sure enough this writer had shared advice that instructs writers to ignore editing and polishing, because apparently that's not what writers do.
That is, to put it bluntly, complete and utter bullshit.
I can get behind the sentiment of not breaking yourself trying to achieve perfection, but it bugs me so much when I see writers talking about how they don't need to develop their skills as editors. I have read books by authors who didn't put in any effort to get rid of typos. I have read books that read like first drafts. It is my policy to never give a review that boils down to, "that book was just total crap." Yet I have read some books that really were. The one thing that those books have in common? Poor editing.
But let me be clear, here: editing isn't just going back and fixing typos. Inconsistent characterization, poor continuity, choppy flow, and gaps in logic? You fix those with good revision and editing. It's rare to crap out a first draft that needs no work. I'm sure somebody's done it, but it's my firm opinion that nobody should ever go into writing thinking, "my work ends when I write 'the end.'"
Develop skills as an editor. Learn how to polish your own work. Get help from beta readers and critique buddies. Don't ever, ever, let yourself fall into the trap of, "it's not my job to edit my book." If there's one thing I've learned from reading blog posts from agents and editors and publishers, it's that their job is to help you give your book its final shine before sending it out into the world to flourish. It's not their job to polish a turd.
Don't shoot yourself in the foot because you think it's not your job to make your book the best it can be.
'Til next time,
J.
But here goes:
The other day (and by the other day, I mean several months ago), while browsing Pinterest, I saw this pin a fellow writer had shared. It was a graphic that read, "Give up on perfection. As an author, your job is to write as much as possible. Turn over responsibility of polishing and perfecting to an editor."
I read it again to make sure I hadn't made a mistake, and sure enough this writer had shared advice that instructs writers to ignore editing and polishing, because apparently that's not what writers do.
That is, to put it bluntly, complete and utter bullshit.
I can get behind the sentiment of not breaking yourself trying to achieve perfection, but it bugs me so much when I see writers talking about how they don't need to develop their skills as editors. I have read books by authors who didn't put in any effort to get rid of typos. I have read books that read like first drafts. It is my policy to never give a review that boils down to, "that book was just total crap." Yet I have read some books that really were. The one thing that those books have in common? Poor editing.
But let me be clear, here: editing isn't just going back and fixing typos. Inconsistent characterization, poor continuity, choppy flow, and gaps in logic? You fix those with good revision and editing. It's rare to crap out a first draft that needs no work. I'm sure somebody's done it, but it's my firm opinion that nobody should ever go into writing thinking, "my work ends when I write 'the end.'"
Develop skills as an editor. Learn how to polish your own work. Get help from beta readers and critique buddies. Don't ever, ever, let yourself fall into the trap of, "it's not my job to edit my book." If there's one thing I've learned from reading blog posts from agents and editors and publishers, it's that their job is to help you give your book its final shine before sending it out into the world to flourish. It's not their job to polish a turd.
Don't shoot yourself in the foot because you think it's not your job to make your book the best it can be.
'Til next time,
J.
Sunday, April 12, 2015
Notes on Nonlinear Narratives
So earlier this afternoon, my phone informed me that there was a conversation going on 'round Twitter, and my name had been mentioned (and that's @JenniferBWhite for those of you who aren't already following for my super quality, if sporadic, ramblings). @CareyTorg was on the hunt for tips about organizing and writing nonlinear stories, and my best good pal @MireyahWolfe (who you really should follow if you want 90% of my tweets to make sense) recommended me.
So, @CareyTorg, here are those thoughts I promised:
My ideas on this one go for stories that are written out of order and pieced together later, stories whose events take place out of chronological order, and stories that just have a lot of "meanwhile, back at the ranch" events brought about by multiple points of view. So here goes:
I'm an outline and notes kind of person with pretty much everything I write, but if I've got a lot of subplots and storylines, or I have anything that's going on in a nonlinear fashion, my notes get ten times more meticulous. I write down notes and thoughts, and then I organize everything into a solid, chronological timeline. Doesn't matter what order things are going to be happening in the course of the story or what order I ultimately write them in, if it happens first on a timeline, it gets listed first. It helps me keep my head straight, and gives me a solid frame of reference. If anything's happening concurrently, I'll either list those events together under one entry, or organize them side-by-side as a visual reminder to myself that they're happening at the same time but are occurring in different sections of the story/different points of view.
I've known plenty of people who write down every major story event on a separate index card or sticky note, add a few notes, and pin them up in a timeline fashion. It lets them move things around easily, in case they want to change things up, and still gives them a solid frame to look back at and make sure they haven't forgotten anything or left it out.
If the events of my story are taking place out of chronological order, I wind up with two timelines: one of things listed out in chronological order, and one where the same events are listed in the order I want them to occur in the narrative. The first timeline helps ground everything for me, so I know when the hell Event A happened in relation to Event 7. The second timeline helps me keep track of what I've already done and what I still need to do.
A lot of my toolbox for this one is derived from my preference for taking notes and organizing thoughts on paper where I can see them. It's always very important for me that I get everything laid out from beginning to end, and I know exactly what I'm going to be working on. Everyone does things their own way, so there are a lot of different opinions and tips, but mine all ultimately go back to keeping good notes and solid timelines.
I went looking for some other advice around the Internet, and I turned up this article, which I thought had good points. I'm always going to recommend notes and outlines on this kind of thing, but if that's not your schtick, or you've tried that and it's not working for you, I'd try searching around and seeing what other writers have to say. All advice should naturally come with a grain of salt or two, but I've always found with trickier stuff like this, it's a good idea to seek out opinions and tips from a pretty wide variety of folks if it's not something you've ever done before.
In any case, I've got a lot of writing of my own to do. I hope my thoughts helped in some small way, and I hope to see y'all around on Twitter.
Cheers, and 'til next time,
J.
So, @CareyTorg, here are those thoughts I promised:
My ideas on this one go for stories that are written out of order and pieced together later, stories whose events take place out of chronological order, and stories that just have a lot of "meanwhile, back at the ranch" events brought about by multiple points of view. So here goes:
I'm an outline and notes kind of person with pretty much everything I write, but if I've got a lot of subplots and storylines, or I have anything that's going on in a nonlinear fashion, my notes get ten times more meticulous. I write down notes and thoughts, and then I organize everything into a solid, chronological timeline. Doesn't matter what order things are going to be happening in the course of the story or what order I ultimately write them in, if it happens first on a timeline, it gets listed first. It helps me keep my head straight, and gives me a solid frame of reference. If anything's happening concurrently, I'll either list those events together under one entry, or organize them side-by-side as a visual reminder to myself that they're happening at the same time but are occurring in different sections of the story/different points of view.
I've known plenty of people who write down every major story event on a separate index card or sticky note, add a few notes, and pin them up in a timeline fashion. It lets them move things around easily, in case they want to change things up, and still gives them a solid frame to look back at and make sure they haven't forgotten anything or left it out.
If the events of my story are taking place out of chronological order, I wind up with two timelines: one of things listed out in chronological order, and one where the same events are listed in the order I want them to occur in the narrative. The first timeline helps ground everything for me, so I know when the hell Event A happened in relation to Event 7. The second timeline helps me keep track of what I've already done and what I still need to do.
A lot of my toolbox for this one is derived from my preference for taking notes and organizing thoughts on paper where I can see them. It's always very important for me that I get everything laid out from beginning to end, and I know exactly what I'm going to be working on. Everyone does things their own way, so there are a lot of different opinions and tips, but mine all ultimately go back to keeping good notes and solid timelines.
I went looking for some other advice around the Internet, and I turned up this article, which I thought had good points. I'm always going to recommend notes and outlines on this kind of thing, but if that's not your schtick, or you've tried that and it's not working for you, I'd try searching around and seeing what other writers have to say. All advice should naturally come with a grain of salt or two, but I've always found with trickier stuff like this, it's a good idea to seek out opinions and tips from a pretty wide variety of folks if it's not something you've ever done before.
In any case, I've got a lot of writing of my own to do. I hope my thoughts helped in some small way, and I hope to see y'all around on Twitter.
Cheers, and 'til next time,
J.
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