Sometimes beginning writers worry that their first draft isn't perfect, and so they niggle at it too early, and agonize that it isn't "right." So they don't get anywhere. They think of writing as being like sculpting marble: one slip of the chisel and it's all ruined.
But it's more like sculpting clay. The key is, you have to start by putting your clay on the wheel. You can shape it, add more clay, add more water, work with it. But you can't do anything unless you have clay there to work with.
So just get the words down. Lots of them. You can eventually throw away the ones that don't work, even if it ends up being 80% of them. But get the first draft down first.
As for influences: hey, my second novel is entirely based on someone else's work (The Wild Swans is based on the Hans Christian Andersen story). It didn't matter. I did something different with it. I understand this fear, but don't worry about it. Just get the clay on the wheel.
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Date: 2004-04-15 03:52 pm (UTC)But it's more like sculpting clay. The key is, you have to start by putting your clay on the wheel. You can shape it, add more clay, add more water, work with it. But you can't do anything unless you have clay there to work with.
So just get the words down. Lots of them. You can eventually throw away the ones that don't work, even if it ends up being 80% of them. But get the first draft down first.
As for influences: hey, my second novel is entirely based on someone else's work (The Wild Swans is based on the Hans Christian Andersen story). It didn't matter. I did something different with it. I understand this fear, but don't worry about it. Just get the clay on the wheel.