I attended a great (and funny) workshop with Lisa Papademetriou, author of Accidentally Fabulous and Sixth Grade Glommers, Norks, and Me (among others!) on Saturday, May 16 at the New England SCBWI conference in Fitchburg, MA.
She talked about maximizing your potential. The thing I wrote down and underlined was this:
Write to your strengths, Revise to your weaknesses
I think Lisa means you should focus on the things you're good at while you write a first draft. Focus on your story, focus on getting words on paper, focus on the positive.
So, what does it mean to me? It means I have permission not to revise as I write. Not to be perfect at the skills that aren't my strongest while I'm first drafting. Not to stress that it's not perfect. Because a first draft (or second, really) isn't perfect. It sucks actually. Focus on what you're good at. If you like dialogue, work on that first. If you like description or character analysis, do that. Write to your strengths.
When you're done writing your first draft, put your manuscript away. Leave it alone for at least two weeks. Then you can start revising, but not before then. Go back and fix the things that don't work. Fix the things that you missed the first time through. Fix the rough patches. Work on stuff that's not your favorite, work on the things you thought you hated, work on what doesn't work. Revise to your weaknesses.
My hat is off to Lisa Papademetriou - I want to thank her for her words of wisdom. She's a very busy, smart, talented and funny lady. And I want to be just like her when I grow up!
