“I am always surprised to discover that when the world seems darkest, there exists the greatest opportunity for light.” -A Curse So Dark and Lonely, by Brigid Kemmerer.
This book made me realize how much I love re-tellings. I thought it was just Alice in Wonderland, but no. It’s all of them.
…lying was a betrayal to one’s self. It’s evidence of self-loathing. When you are so ashamed of your actions, thoughts, or intentions, you lie rather than accepting yourself for who you really are—or, in this case, pretend something happened when it didn’t. The idea of how others see you becomes more important than the reality of you. -Theft of Swords, by Michael J. Sullivan
Writing is hard. Like, seriously.
One of my favorite quotes come from All The Bright Places and comments on said fact.
Writing is so difficult that writers, having had their hell on earth, will escape all punishment hereafter.
And first drafts. Seriously, they can suk it. Like, all of it. They make me wonder if my brain even works. Do I sound like this big of a moron when I speak? I need to stop speaking. Like, when you go back to some quickly jotted notes, and you can’t decipher your own writing, that’s what a first draft is to my thoughts. I’m reading what must be a sentence. There’s a period at the end of a string of words. That’s a sentence, right? But this makes all kinds of sense that is nonsense. How am I supposed to EDIT this into coherency when there isn’t even a base coherency to be found?!
But, somehow, it gets there. Probably with multiple missed chances at brilliance. Those pure moments of genius that didn’t form themselves well onto the page because my meager human existence struggled to decipher, it and it’s now lost forever. Who knows? Maybe my basic fun, adventure novels were meant to be more, if only I’d trained my brain to translate from the muses better.
It’s a question I often see on author posts, asking what part of the processes is their most and least favorite. I could never answer. Well, I can now. First Drafts can SUUUUUK it.
Needless-to-say, I’m a little bit with the struggles right now on my current first draft. It’s not even that I don’t know where its going, or where it is, or what I want to happen. I have a plan for this story. I’ve even written the ending. But I just can’t get the words onto the page.
Maybe I should be the one sukkin it. Maybe I’m just having an aversion to work, because the first draft, I think, is where the most work goes in. The literal creation of something from nothing. I like when it’s finally here, when I can go in and fine-tune, when I can sculpt a clean product from the ragged suggestion of it. That means, finishing this first draft. *insert annoyed, toddler-tantrum expression here*
What do you think? Are you sukkin first drafts, too? Or you just think I don’t have the chops? Go on, be honest 🙂
And here. Let’s all suck it…
Share a favorite quote in the comments 🙌 Help me add to my collection.
Share a favorite quote in the comments 🙌 Help me add to my collection.
Author C.M. Martens 