Knowing When Something Is Wrong Actually Means You’re Doing Something Right
We all want our writing to be great and we all think at one time or another it is. We’re positive it’s destined for the bestseller list or a literary award and a call from movie people wanting to turn it into a blockbuster film after paying us a small fortune for the opportunity.
Alas, if it’s a first draft and if you’re a new writer, you’re suffering from a common writer affliction, “manuscript hallucination”. Rarely does any writer write something really good on the first draft, let alone someone who is new to writing. The new writer suffering from manuscript hallucination often doesn’t know he or she or they are not seeing clearly. That’s because the new writer can’t tell the difference between good and bad writing.
And this is one of the keys. Good writers still write a lot of crap. But they are good writers because they can see the difference between their good writing and their crap writing and they revise in a way that improves the writing. I’m not just talking about prose here, but also characterization, setting, and plot.
If you are a new writer, just being aware of this common writer pitfall will help you move on to the next stage of your development. Every writer who admits having this hallucination and gives themselves a bit of time and several revisions will improve their writing, regardless of where they start. A lot of writing is a skill, which means it can be learned. Sure, talent and luck play into it, but those are mostly out of our control. Work to discover what you do well and what you do poorly and learn the difference and you will be on your way.
