6 Tips to Champion Your Story

I killed a story. It was up to its eleventh draft when I declared it gone. Death by over-work. It had had so many second opinions and so much uncertainty poured into it that it gave up its soul. In my attempt to tick all the boxes and follow all the rules, the story got lost, the voice got buried and the writing no longer sang.

There comes a time when we have to have the courage to say that's enough tweaking and fiddling, that's enough listening to our friends, neighbours and anyone willing to share an opinion on how a piece should be written. We have to stand by our work, with all its flaws, and push it out into the big wide world—and keep pushing it out there until you declare it dead, or someone falls in love with it and gives it a whole new life of its own.

Easier said than done, of course. But it does become easier if you've whipped the manuscript into shape, done the rounds with your critique partners, and given it some muscle so it's strong enough to stand on its own. After that, it helps to remember the tips below:

1. Not everyone will like your manuscript. This is an immutable fact and is no reflection on your ability as a writer. Neither does it mean your manuscript is terrible and therefore needs more tweaks. The trick is to find the people who will like your manuscript.

2. No manuscript will ever be perfect. While it's important to strive for perfection, if all you're doing is small tweaks, then that's enough. It’s time to stand behind your work and send it off.

3. Everyone will have an opinion about how to improve your work. Don't blindly follow everything everyone says, but don't close your ears to it either. Learn to measure the advice you're given. If the suggestions improve the story you're trying to tell, then go ahead and make the changes. Listen to what your story needs because you're the only one who can write it.

4. Believe in yourself. You have something important to say that's worth reading. People do want to read your work. You just have to find the right audience.

5. Remember the passion you had when you first began the story. That passion may have been trampled during the making of the story, after all the rewrites, after the multiple rejections, or after a poor review. Doubt has a way of killing passion. Don't let those doubts sway your love of writing.

6. Trust your voice. Writing what you think others will want to read is the fastest way to drain the magic and originality from a story. Yes, be aware of the market, but first and foremost, write the stories calling out from deep inside you. They are the stories which will shine.

In the fast-changing risk-averse publishing world, if you can't be your story's champion, then no one else will. Against the odds, how do you find the courage and conviction to stand behind your writing?

Lynda R Young
@LyndaRYoung

Freewriting

What is freewriting? Wikipedia says: “Free writing is a prewriting technique in which a person writes continuously for set period of time without regard to spelling, grammar, or topic. It produces raw, often unusable material, but helps writers overcome blocks of apathy and self-criticism. It is used mainly by prose writers and writing teachers.^[1][2] Some writers use the technique to collect initial thoughts and ideas on a topic, often as a preliminary to formal writing.”

Basic guidelines:

• Write nonstop for a set period of time (10–20 minutes).
• Do not make corrections as you write.
• Keep writing, even if you have to write something like, "I don't know what to write."
• Write whatever comes into your mind.
• Do not judge or censor what you are writing.
• Don’t erase or correct mistakes
•  No matter what happens, just keep writing

 Free writing has these benefits:

• It makes you more comfortable with the act of writing.
• It helps you bypass the "inner critic" who tells you you can't write.
• It can be a valve to release inner tensions.
• It can help you discover things to write about.
• It can indirectly improve your formal writing.
• It can be fun.

Quote: "Freewriting is the easiest way to get words on paper and the best all-around practice in writing that I know. To do a freewriting exercise, simply force yourself to write without stopping for ten minutes. Sometimes you will produce good writing, but that’s not the goal. Sometimes you will produce garbage, but that’s not the goal either. You may stay on one topic; you may flip repeatedly from one to another: it doesn’t matter. Sometimes you will produce a good record of your stream of consciousness, but often you can’t keep up. Speed is not the goal, though sometimes the process revs you up. If you can’t think of anything to write, write about how that feels or repeat over and over 'I have nothing to write' or 'Nonsense' or 'No.' If you get stuck in the middle of a sentence or thought, just repeat the last word or phrase till something comes along. The only point is to keep writing. . . .

"The goal of freewriting is in the process, not the product."
(Peter Elbow, Writing With Power: Techniques for Mastering the Writing Process, 2nd ed. Oxford Univ. Press, 1998)

Want to try some freewriting exercises?

Go to www.oneword.com and try the exercise. 

There’s a new prompt every day.  

I’ve done it a million times... and it only takes sixty seconds!