Immediate Fiction Read Free Page B

shit." If Hemingway's first draft was shit, why should you expect more? Once again, bad is good. Believe it or not, you'll do better if you lower your expectations. By not expecting so much, you'll give yourself the space, the slop you need, to work. So, don't hold back. Gag the critic in you, and dare to write badly. It's the only way.
    Mistakes lead to discovery. This is a game of mistakes. Art begins in error. Mistakes and uncertainty are good. They create new combinations and possibilities. Penicillin, the lightbulb, the Slinky were all the result of mistakes. Creative people have a lot more good ideas than other people do, and they have a lot more bad ideas. They have a lot more ideas because they let everything out. They know the good and the bad go hand in hand and that letting yourself be bad is the best way to become good.
    Here's an old writing anecdote that expresses this well: The beginning writer writes his first draft, reads it, and says, "This is awful. I'm screwed." The experienced writer writes his first draft, reads it, and says, "This is awful. I'm on my way!"
    THE FIX
    Writing badly may not be fun (although it can be once you stop worrying about it), but the great thing about writing is everything can be fixed. And fixing makes exciting things happen. Writing is rewriting. Everything can work, because you can add, subtract, make changes and adjustments until your story comes alive. There's always a way. The way is technique —story craft.
    In all of this, a relaxed, unhurried attitude will get you there faster. But that's hard to achieve when it's so important to you, which brings us to the next point.
    THE UNIMPORTANCE OF IMPORTANCE
    What I'm saying is, The less you care, the better you write. But how
    can you make yourself not care about something you're pouring your heart into? Well, it can be done. Practice is always the first step— writing and writing and writing until you let go of the tension and relax, until you no longer have the strength to be uptight. When you just dash it off to get it over with is when the best things happen.
    Another thing to keep in mind is, Everything that happens is OK. No matter what problem you have (confusion, worry, self-doubt, panic, emptiness, paralysis), it's OK. It's no reflection on you or your ability. It's all a natural part of the process —what every writer must face. You're not the only writer who's ever had these problems. You'll feel you're the only one, but I can tell you that you won't be inventing any new writing miseries. They've all been experienced before—and dealt with successfully. So, try not to blame yourself or punish yourself. And keep the following examples in mind.
    The famous French writer Gustave Flaubert (Madame Bovary)
    struggled for three days, threw a monumental tantrum, rolled on the floor, chewed the rug, and bashed his head against the wall to get eight sentences on the page. Oscar Wilde (The Importance of Being Earnest, The Picture of Dorian Gray) said, "I spent the morning putting in a comma and the afternoon taking it out." All writers are susceptible to such misery. So, when you get into this kind of a jam, remind yourself tha t you're in good company. Then get your mind back on the craft and technique you're going to learn, and you'll get out of your funk.
    THE JAGGED SLOPE
    Progress is never even. In everything you do, some days you're a whiz, and other days you're a dud. Writing is no different. It's like everything else in life. So, when you have a bad day, don't despair. Just keep plugging away, because how you handle your slumps is what makes you or breaks you. And it's not all bleak because it will get good again—always. You will bounce back. I guarantee it. Not only will you rise out of your slump, but you will reach your best level of writing, and you will exceed it—if you keep at it. Then you will dip down—and rise again. You will always lose it, and you will always get it back— and then some. Think of