"You must write your first draft with your heart. You rewrite with your head."
- Sean Connery, Finding Forrester
That is what you must realize when you write. That you are writing straight from your heart and you don't ever think for a single moment.
A lot, and I mean a lot of people try to find out how J.K. Rowling made such a success with Harry Potter. It wasn't because everyone loves a fantasy. It wasn't because of magic. It wasn't the fact that it was a classic kind of story. It was because it was from the heart, the deepness of the soul of J.K. Rowling.
If you watch a single documentary on her life, you can find that everything there is to love about the book is drawn from her life and soul.
Realize that this isn't about becoming a witty writer or selling millions of copies of your novel. Those aren't necessary results of writing. They're generally a result of writing a) what's popular or b) what comes from your heart. Which one do you want to do?
A great many authors, and successful ones at that, simply pump out what's popular. These authors make money, they get their fortune, their success, they get themselves in the public eye. At least for a fleeting moment until the popularity of the genre fades and the authors themselves fade into obscurity.
But people who have truly succeeded, people like Rowling and Tolkien and Lewis and Chesterton, all have written directly from their heart, and you can find no better fiction than this kind. I think that as a writer I have missed the mark in the past and I've tried writing what's popular instead of what's in my heart. But those are the manuscripts that gather dust on the shelf, their only use now being bookends for my better novels.
So ignore all other advice and write your first draft with your heart and ignore your head. Your head isn't good for much beyond the physical and observable, the math and sciences. Your heart is the place from which creativity springs, and make sure to not let one ounce of that creativity go to waste. Not everyone has it in the ample supply as you, and there must be enough to go around.
Dawson
I'm editing. Yep, it sucks.
Most beginning writers hate the writing/word choice type of editing. I do. Because, you know, I don't have a passion for sentence structure or epiphanies about typos.
But you know, the first and second drafts were a great time, and it's all worthless if the prose itself is garbled gobbledygook. It's no fun to read boring stuff. So you need to remember in this dark slog that it will be over soon and the sweet bliss of being finished is on the horizon.
Power through. Pay attention. And most of all, keep focused. It will be over sooner if you concentrate on editing without distractions. I guarantee you, this part will be over. Just work as hard as you can to get the thing perfect.
Dawson
But you know, the first and second drafts were a great time, and it's all worthless if the prose itself is garbled gobbledygook. It's no fun to read boring stuff. So you need to remember in this dark slog that it will be over soon and the sweet bliss of being finished is on the horizon.
Power through. Pay attention. And most of all, keep focused. It will be over sooner if you concentrate on editing without distractions. I guarantee you, this part will be over. Just work as hard as you can to get the thing perfect.
Dawson
No, I won't read your WIP.
Being an author is a lot of fun. I like talking to people who have enjoyed my book and I also like talking to those who didn't. The people I don't like talking to are those who ask if I could read their work-in-progress novel.
Seriously, I can't tell you how annoying this question is. And it's not even close to the most frequently asked.
If you're asking me to read your work in progress, you have not read anything about writing and it clearly shows that you are an ameteur. If you read any book ever written about writing, there will be 0 that tell you to ask people to read it before it's finished. In fact, most of them say to avoid this practice.
Other variations on this question are "is this a good idea", "should I keep writing this", and "PLEASE READ!!!". And none of them are marks of professionalism.
If you want to write a book or you're writing a book but you're insecure about what you're writing, you need to seriously reconsider this. If you're going to have to ask a professional author if the book is good before it's even finished, then this reveals to me that you don't have a true passion about the story you're writing. If you have the passion for your story and you're still asking me to read it, I will not read it.
Don't jump on me and say that I'm a mean old hack, a stupid windbag, an angry, mean writer whose only goal is to make you miserable. I only say this from experience. I've only written five novels in the span of two years because I wrote like heck to get the first draft done. Once you do that, you're golden. Just don't ask me to read it before it's done.
Sure, I'd be happy to give you a blurb for a finished novel. I'd also like to edit it (not for free, of course) once you're ready for an editor. But not now, not when your novel is so young and unfinished.
It's like asking someone if they'll babysit your unborn baby. You don't.
Dawson
Seriously, I can't tell you how annoying this question is. And it's not even close to the most frequently asked.
If you're asking me to read your work in progress, you have not read anything about writing and it clearly shows that you are an ameteur. If you read any book ever written about writing, there will be 0 that tell you to ask people to read it before it's finished. In fact, most of them say to avoid this practice.
Other variations on this question are "is this a good idea", "should I keep writing this", and "PLEASE READ!!!". And none of them are marks of professionalism.
If you want to write a book or you're writing a book but you're insecure about what you're writing, you need to seriously reconsider this. If you're going to have to ask a professional author if the book is good before it's even finished, then this reveals to me that you don't have a true passion about the story you're writing. If you have the passion for your story and you're still asking me to read it, I will not read it.
Don't jump on me and say that I'm a mean old hack, a stupid windbag, an angry, mean writer whose only goal is to make you miserable. I only say this from experience. I've only written five novels in the span of two years because I wrote like heck to get the first draft done. Once you do that, you're golden. Just don't ask me to read it before it's done.
Sure, I'd be happy to give you a blurb for a finished novel. I'd also like to edit it (not for free, of course) once you're ready for an editor. But not now, not when your novel is so young and unfinished.
It's like asking someone if they'll babysit your unborn baby. You don't.
Dawson
Brothers
In case you didn't know, I have brothers.
Three of them. Two of them have websites (and I don't, how sad). They're also artists and they're really cool. So you should check out their websites:
http://www.drewvosburg.com/
http://www.davidvosburg.com/
It's too bad that I can't carry on the tradition. http://www.dawsonvosburg.com/ is parked.
Dawson
Three of them. Two of them have websites (and I don't, how sad). They're also artists and they're really cool. So you should check out their websites:
http://www.drewvosburg.com/
http://www.davidvosburg.com/
It's too bad that I can't carry on the tradition. http://www.dawsonvosburg.com/ is parked.
Dawson
Music
Hey everyone.
Lately I've been procrastinating from writing. A lot. And I've been doing it by listening and creating music, which is still a creative endeavor, but it will not get a novel finished and selling by December.
Anyway--I've written a song I think is fairly good. Totally unedited, so if there's any mistake in it it's probably a couple revs away from being done.
I float, embraced by a ray of sunshine,
The last remaining in this nighttime.
Don’t let go.
Don’t let go.
Once in a lifetime, forever in memory,
As I remember sunshine, it remembers me.
Don’t let go.
Don’t let go.
Ray of sunshine,
Don’t pull away,
You’re the last in this darkness.
Until the brightness of day.
Don’t let go.
Don’t let go.
Don’t let go.
I fly, wings provided by a ray of sunshine,
Who casts off fears in this nighttime.
Don’t let go.
Don’t let go.
I die, for the ray of sunshine has let go,
The cold takes over, nothing else I know.
Don’t let go.
Don’t let go.
Ray of sunshine,
Don’t pull away,
You’re the last in this darkness.
Until the brightness of day.
Don’t let go.
Don’t let go.
Don’t let go.
I float, embraced by a ray of sunshine,
The last remaining in this nighttime.
Don’t let go.
Don’t let go.
So those were pretty much my feelings yesterday afternoon as I hung out at the library. I think it's pretty good, but again, I don't think it's done.
Don't worry. I'm getting to work on Terminal Velocity. Right now. Sorry...I'm a procrastinator by birth.
Dawson
Lately I've been procrastinating from writing. A lot. And I've been doing it by listening and creating music, which is still a creative endeavor, but it will not get a novel finished and selling by December.
Anyway--I've written a song I think is fairly good. Totally unedited, so if there's any mistake in it it's probably a couple revs away from being done.
I float, embraced by a ray of sunshine,
The last remaining in this nighttime.
Don’t let go.
Don’t let go.
Once in a lifetime, forever in memory,
As I remember sunshine, it remembers me.
Don’t let go.
Don’t let go.
Ray of sunshine,
Don’t pull away,
You’re the last in this darkness.
Until the brightness of day.
Don’t let go.
Don’t let go.
Don’t let go.
I fly, wings provided by a ray of sunshine,
Who casts off fears in this nighttime.
Don’t let go.
Don’t let go.
I die, for the ray of sunshine has let go,
The cold takes over, nothing else I know.
Don’t let go.
Don’t let go.
Ray of sunshine,
Don’t pull away,
You’re the last in this darkness.
Until the brightness of day.
Don’t let go.
Don’t let go.
Don’t let go.
I float, embraced by a ray of sunshine,
The last remaining in this nighttime.
Don’t let go.
Don’t let go.
So those were pretty much my feelings yesterday afternoon as I hung out at the library. I think it's pretty good, but again, I don't think it's done.
Don't worry. I'm getting to work on Terminal Velocity. Right now. Sorry...I'm a procrastinator by birth.
Dawson