When I think about the first manuscript I completed, I laugh because I penned it before knowing anything about writing. Who needed plot, narrative structure, and characterization when I had imagination and initiative to fuel my prose? Point of view? Mine. Head hopping? Yes please— often within the same paragraph. Infodump? Definitely. The reader needed to know everything upfront, and just to be sure of it, I inserted so many flashbacks into my story I gave the main characters whiplash.
I made every mistake a novice writer could make, blissfully unaware of the basics of good storytelling. In retrospect, what I didn’t know allowed me to forge ahead fearlessly. Creativity flourished, and a story emerged. Albeit an implausible, melodramatic, 100,000-word story, but a story, nonetheless.
Not being preoccupied with perfection created a safe space for me to make lots of mistakes. It also cultivated an environment where I could learn from those mistakes and grew as a writer. I love my clunky 1st manuscript because it proved to me that I could complete a novel. It also showed me how much more I needed to learn and taught me that creativity and craft weren’t mutually exclusive.
Wishing you happily ever after.
Lynn
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