About Be Self-Aware

Post 1656:

Part of the fun (and the horror) of writing a book is in the editing, changing, reworking, restructuring, realigning that one must do in order to get the story and characters where they need to be.

This is where you really learn. You learn a lot.

A first draft says a great deal. It shows you how good a writer you are and how much better you need to be. This is a healthy thing, no matter what. Self-awareness is probably the most important attribute in writing, along with all the other stuff that is also most important.

Self-awareness is tricky. It can turn to self-loathing or self-worship. Or any of the selfs.

You have to go over your drafts with a mind to make them better. This involves healthy critique. Nobody gets it right the first time. Or the second or the third, for that matter. In fact, one could argue, nobody in the history of the world has ever gotten it right.

There are a few books that I say come close to perfection, but even those precious few are flawed. A perfect book is as impossible as a perfect person. Haven’t read one. Haven’t met one.

And that’s why it’s tricky. In all the fine-tuning, it’s possible to get a little nuts. Or a lot nuts. To expect the impossible.

So here’s some basic questions that need to be answered. After these, go with your gut and go with God.

Does this story make sense? Are the characters who I want them to be? Is the theme coming across? Why am I doing this when it’s more fun to go to the gym and use all the machines that no one uses because they don’t make sense to the human eye.

Start with those questions. And don't let self-awareness become self-obsession. The point is to make something good and honestly try your hardest to entertain and transport the reader. If you’re aware of that, can’t go wrong. Except when you do. Writing is fun! Cheers and see you after.