Writing fiction: everything is fixable because everything is a process
When I’m coaching writing students, many students struggle with writing rubbish and being good with that.
I know it’s hard to believe. Believe it anyway. My goal is to teach that everything in fiction is fixable because it’s a process.
You have to write it down in order to fix it.
The process goes something like this:
- The idea. Let’s say you’re writing a scene in which you need a character to fire another character. The idea, in your imagination, is exciting, because the person doing the firing doesn’t want to do it. She hates confrontation.
- You write the scene. But when you read it, there’s no emotional fireworks. The scene is flat. The characters might as well be talking about the weather.
STOP! Don’t delete the scene and don’t despair.