I was reading through a few chapters this weekend and I have to say that I am brilliant. I know it’s a bold statement and a little self-centered but truly there are moments in my book where I astonish myself with my amazing writing ability.
Okay so now let me qualify that statement before you all shake your heads in disgust and click the back button. I reiterate I had moments of brilliance. There were some sentences that I just thought, man that’s perfect. I captured the scene, the mood and the character all at once but then I read further. The next few sentences are just okay. They’re not bad but they’re certainly not brilliant. Then there are the sentences that I shake my head and scrunch up my face a little bit. I try to think of a different way to write it but nothing comes so I leave it, thinking to myself “good enough”.
At the end of the chapter I thought to myself how many “good enough” sentences did I have? So I have decided to re-read all chapters with renewed determination to have more brilliant moments than “good enough” moments.
What do you think? Is it okay to have a few moments of "good enough" or does it all need to be brilliant?
6 comments:
I'm not sure. What I do know, though, is that you absolutely need to be able to tell yourself you've written something brilliantly, just like you need to tell yourself when you haven't. A mix either way is bad for a writer, I think.
Well, I think it depends on where you're at in your process and how happy you are as a whole.
If you're just finishing up the first draft and did a read through and found out some fantastic stuff, I think that's great! You can always revise and find some way to help that good enough become great.
If you've already revised and are sending out to agents, think: woud that agent stumble across this? is it good enough for an agent to continue to read? If you're uncertain, hold on to it.
What are your beta readers saying?
I think you're both right. I need to make sure each sentence is the best it can be and not settle for anything less.
I think it is great to have awesome, brilliant sentences! I have thought that a few times, and then read the rest of the chapter and thought, "Ugh!" Time to edit again. But, it is a good thing. It makes me want to be a better writer, and work a little harder to make my manuscripts shine!:)
I'm with you on this, but I am a perfectionist and have re-written a million times. I do think there comes a point when enough is enough, and knowing good enough for me is great for others...otherwise I'll be eternally re-writing.
I'm always thinking I'm brilliant. Then a few days later, my "split" side comes along a tells me it sucks.
I never know which side to believe.
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