Georgia's Books
asked
Roshani Chokshi:
How do you motivate yourself to keep writing when you feel like you're failing in your first draft?
Roshani Chokshi
Oh boy. I ask myself this every time I tackle a new project. I have temper tantrums. I call every member of my family and screech about the unique difficulties and horrors of my existence. I stand in the shower and cry like I'm Tobias Funke, etc. etc. Once I'm done with all that, I usually remember that the true motivation for finishing the draft is that I can always change it in revisions. Often I find that I'm writing around the story. For example, imagine that you're stumbling around in a dark tunnel, and just trying to piece together where the stairs start and stop. That takes time. And only when you can visualize the whole thing can you start climbing, and reaching the endpoint of that story. The first draft is just that: a first draft. It is not a commitment to plot, setting, characters or emotion. It is not a promise to give it your 100%. It is simply a starting point on a long journey. To me, magic happens in the revision, but you can't revise nothing. So even if that something (first, second, even twelfth draft) is hideous, at least it's there.
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