tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422555164465305734.post6515304792920577193..comments2024-03-11T16:14:49.158-07:00Comments on Don't pet me, I'm writing: The importance of sucking for awhileTAWNA FENSKEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11468819219529035563noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422555164465305734.post-30357072192589327052012-04-03T10:17:05.229-07:002012-04-03T10:17:05.229-07:00It's fun to suck when you know the piece will ...It's fun to suck when you know the piece will never see the light of day. You can work out all the hostility you have and not screw up the piece you're working on. I save the initial run at a story just in case I might have let a good nugget slip.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422555164465305734.post-65588257964461014372012-01-22T08:06:16.897-08:002012-01-22T08:06:16.897-08:00Thanks for the reminder! I am beginning a new proj...Thanks for the reminder! I am beginning a new project and feeling very sluglike lately.LilySeahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08812905445813679050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422555164465305734.post-76705149625734898952012-01-20T11:58:51.841-08:002012-01-20T11:58:51.841-08:00Thank you for the article, and maybe that is the r...Thank you for the article, and maybe that is the reason why I do not write as much as I should. I am afraid of it sucking, but you are right about keeping on writing even if it sucks. I might suck on rough drafts, but that is what revising is for. Thank you for saying I can suck when it comes to rough drafts. Good luck on your writing journey!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422555164465305734.post-42886118817869449422012-01-16T22:09:54.676-08:002012-01-16T22:09:54.676-08:00There was a writer interviewed in RWR a couple of ...There was a writer interviewed in RWR a couple of months ago who writes more than twenty pages a day. She'd completed eight novellas/novels in less than a year, and planned on two or three more---I don't remember exact numbers--- probably beacuse I was feeling depressed and inadequate long before I reached the end of the article. I wrote two pages today, and felt pretty good about it.Tammy Pattonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422555164465305734.post-19056552559618126022012-01-16T18:20:58.361-08:002012-01-16T18:20:58.361-08:00With references to sucking, pork swords, and love ...With references to sucking, pork swords, and love wallets, I must say this is the best post on this subject I've read.Brooklyn Annhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11285434689426722832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422555164465305734.post-24474783232532493132012-01-16T18:18:10.224-08:002012-01-16T18:18:10.224-08:00Yay for sucking! Yay for pork swords and dewy love...Yay for sucking! Yay for pork swords and dewy love wallets! <br /><br />Yes, we all need this reminder!Brooklyn Annhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11285434689426722832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422555164465305734.post-69432377526558561932012-01-16T18:13:02.224-08:002012-01-16T18:13:02.224-08:00This was both amusing and inspiring. Thanks!This was both amusing and inspiring. Thanks!Mike Schulenberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07150989011176710430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422555164465305734.post-34845955771403639632012-01-16T12:15:19.843-08:002012-01-16T12:15:19.843-08:00It's good to know that sucking may just be a p...It's good to know that sucking may just be a phase. However, I do worry whatever I wrote when I don't think I am in that phase still do... suck...<br /><br />I can tell myself that as long as I'm happy when I write then everything is fine. But what's the fun in making up stories when you don't have readers to share them with?<br /><br />In the mean time, thanks to my obsessive nature, I'll keep on writing. I'll remind myself often that "sucking is necessary." ;)Irishttp://needstonote.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422555164465305734.post-6400889788131008712012-01-16T11:09:03.287-08:002012-01-16T11:09:03.287-08:00great post! not to quibble, but if he's plung...great post! not to quibble, but if he's plunging his pork sword, shouldn't it be into the dewy cleft of her love scabbard? *ducks and runs* I mean, really. sword and <i>wallet</i>?BarbNhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12088366782915923507noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422555164465305734.post-21146972891867657342012-01-16T10:25:42.549-08:002012-01-16T10:25:42.549-08:00Loved this, you have cheered up my writing day!Loved this, you have cheered up my writing day!Ladybird World Motherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04410236464722005178noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422555164465305734.post-35535646399590809122012-01-16T10:23:53.215-08:002012-01-16T10:23:53.215-08:00I think four or five pages a day is very good, let...I think four or five pages a day is very good, let alone twenty-five pages. I know what you mean though; sometimes when I hear about other writers succeeding in their writing and getting their stuff published while I'm still working on my first or second draft, I feel like I'm not working fast enough. But I guess we all work at our own pace.Neurotic Workaholichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06775298184138766683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422555164465305734.post-54037185611747948332012-01-16T10:20:12.582-08:002012-01-16T10:20:12.582-08:00I feel great if I manage to sweat out three bad pa...I feel great if I manage to sweat out three bad pages before I have to head off to my "real" job. I love the "polishing a turd" wordage. Perfect description of the process...Maery Rosehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09897994913879836634noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422555164465305734.post-65735156754008728582012-01-16T10:00:37.397-08:002012-01-16T10:00:37.397-08:00Love wallet... oh, that's precious.... XDLove wallet... oh, that's precious.... XDCharlie N. Holmberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13546802577363686054noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422555164465305734.post-56538170665270817702012-01-16T09:56:29.411-08:002012-01-16T09:56:29.411-08:00I am totally backwards but still can relate. I can...I am totally backwards but still can relate. I can crank out a plot, characters, story line, where I want it, and get a long 5 page beginning in no time flat. However...I also get the point where my beginning has to go into the story and that is my slow part. I can never seem to get the excitement to carry through past the beginning. I tend to have to change and add things to much because I jump to spots to quickly.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422555164465305734.post-7437539838601816782012-01-16T09:30:40.927-08:002012-01-16T09:30:40.927-08:00Thank you that's exactly what I needed to hear...Thank you that's exactly what I needed to hear.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422555164465305734.post-21446822054106449912012-01-16T08:54:08.093-08:002012-01-16T08:54:08.093-08:00I, too, was amazed by the 25 pages comment, until ...I, too, was amazed by the 25 pages comment, until I realized you were just being optimistic. Whew. I can do that with a technical document, but no way a creative one.<br /><br />I have been getting a lot of very excellent advice and knowledge from reading you and Crusie et al., and I am finally, after many, many years, catching on to the "how many licks to get to the center of the tootsie pop" novel-writing process. (Sucking, licking, it all works out the same, and it all sounds dirty, too!)Skyehttp://thingsintheskye.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422555164465305734.post-36182484337320035402012-01-16T08:42:23.353-08:002012-01-16T08:42:23.353-08:00Sucking is way more fun than not sucking.
Er, all...Sucking is way more fun than not sucking.<br /><br />Er, allowing yourself to suck is more fun than feeling bad about sucking.<br /><br />Nope. No way to make it not dirty.Taymalinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13894922480703350634noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422555164465305734.post-23755104881088769242012-01-16T08:30:34.994-08:002012-01-16T08:30:34.994-08:00LOVE. And I too am now scarred from "pork swo...LOVE. And I too am now scarred from "pork sword."Jess Corrahttp://jessicacorra.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422555164465305734.post-42411393133639804972012-01-16T08:10:43.425-08:002012-01-16T08:10:43.425-08:00Love this, Tawna. Just what we writers need to rem...Love this, Tawna. Just what we writers need to remind ourselves. I've found that people don't understand how many drafts one novel can go through. It would be nice if I wrote a book, edited it once, and could publish it right away. But no one would want to read my second draft slop! And that's okay. I just keep slashing and chiseling until it's pretty enough for show.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422555164465305734.post-4061476021727627762012-01-16T06:55:38.360-08:002012-01-16T06:55:38.360-08:00When I shipped off my shiny new manuscript to Harl...When I shipped off my shiny new manuscript to Harlequin 2 yrs ago, I was already polishing my soon-to-be-earned writer's awards. (They have those, right?) Then I got rejected. (GASP!) Luckily, by then, I'd written two other manuscripts and had learned a thing or two. So, I rewrote said crap-MS and resubmitted a year later, and in the menatime, kept writing. <br /><br />The weekend before it got rejected AGAIN, I picked it up and GASP! realized it STILL SUCKED. Good news is that NOW I know how to fix it. But yeah, sucking is part of the process. And I'm rewriting it AGAIN. I *think* it's less sucky now.Jessica Lemmonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16388504462239939840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422555164465305734.post-77649921912217940532012-01-16T05:26:39.466-08:002012-01-16T05:26:39.466-08:00This is a difficult concept to master, especially ...This is a difficult concept to master, especially if you're a perfectionist. And especially if you follow writers and read a lot and those writers make churning out beautiful words look so easy. <br />It's important to know that a first draft is ugly. UGLY! And that it gets prettier through editing and critique and hard work. <br /><br />I've been writing for awhile now and I am just now starting to learn that it is necessary to suck for awhile. Otherwise you'll just drive yourself nuts trying to create a perfect manuscript on the first try.MJoneshttp://thesweetescape.net/blognoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422555164465305734.post-55855061778110601492012-01-16T04:34:26.740-08:002012-01-16T04:34:26.740-08:00“...he plunged his pork sword into the dewy cleft ...“...he plunged his pork sword into the dewy cleft of her love wallet.”<br /><br />Okay, that's the one---you've finally scarred me.<br /><br />But seriously, thanks for this. I recently pulled out (har) a seven year old drawer novel and sent it to a betafriend to see if she thought it really sucked as much as I thought it did.<br /><br />It does, she said, but with amazing potential.<br /><br />Seven years ago, I didn't know from rewriting. Why bother? If it sucks, let it go--if it doesn't come back, consider yourself lucky.<br /><br />But now . . . now I'm focusing on that "amazing potential."<br /><br />Huh. Guess I learned something along the way. Had to happen sometime.Sarah Whttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13265589529909793312noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422555164465305734.post-10467720431403940102012-01-16T03:59:25.426-08:002012-01-16T03:59:25.426-08:00Wow. 25 pages. That would be loads.
I've come...Wow. 25 pages. That would be loads.<br /><br />I've come to realise that usually my beginnings feel so bad because that's where I start. I've not had time to get to know my characters and figuring out the backstory. So I'm attempting to write less chronological now and I think it's working much better. I've got past the "it sucks" stage much faster at least.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14869145555938203736noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422555164465305734.post-78365382881394021692012-01-16T03:15:41.730-08:002012-01-16T03:15:41.730-08:00When I first read this I was like "25 pages, ...When I first read this I was like "25 pages, what?!" thinking you were some sort of writing wunderkind.<br /><br />I've read a lot lately about how we need to realize the inevitable suckage of early drafts, and it's always encouraging to see a successful author saying the same thing, so thanks!LAHhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15268579298100917721noreply@blogger.com