So I'm resurrecting the concept of the first novel I ever wrote, which would have been around 1999. The reason why I started writing was because I read a book for a college class that I thought was just awful (no, I won't say what) and I threw it across the room upon finishing it, self-declared myself a better writer than that person and immediately sat down in front of my computer to prove it.
Guess what? I totally was not a better writer than that person.
And I can see that now.
In the past week I opened up that document and started looking at it for concept because I can see it working as a YA with a ton of restructuring - and by restructuring I mean I'm taking a 3rd person omni adult literary (or so I flattered myself) and making it a 1st person present multiple POV YA. This also means that I'm not using any of the original content. Not a single line. And it's not only the restructuring that makes this a necessity.
It's the fact that my first novel really, really sucks.
And the version that I'm looking at has gone through multiple revisions, been re-written from scratch at least once, and then seen more revisions. It's had a lot of work, and it's still painful to look at. And I mean that. This isn't me throwing out false modesty.
I found a paragraph that consisted entirely of character movement, had a head hop, plus someone able to see something in a pitch black room. And that was within four lines.
I'm sharing this because I think it's important for aspiring writers to know that it's perfectly okay to suck. Published writers don't spring forth from the womb holding polished manuscripts.
I started tweeting about my first ms under the hashtag #BadFirstNovel, so if you're interested in seeing my thoughts on my own first work as I barge forward, feel free to see what I'm up to on Twitter.
