By Mollie Joy Rushmeyer, @mollierushmeyer
Let it be ugly. That’s not the typical advice we get for other areas of our lives, is it? House decorating and organizing? Let it be ugly? Nope, that doesn’t work. I think Marie Kondo would have something to say about that. Makeup or hair tutorials? Definitely not. Cooking or Baking? No. Curating our social media platforms. Nuh-uh.
But when it comes to first drafts in our writing, this bit of grace-filled counsel could not be more spot-on. And as I’m chest-deep into my first draft of a novel due to my editor by August 1st, this message is as much for me as it is for you.
What do I mean by “let it be ugly”? It comes down to allowing yourself to write whatever it takes to put those two oh-so-sweet words “The End” on your rough draft. If you’ve finished writing a first draft before, of course, you know you’re far from done at that stage. There are revisions, feedback from early readers and editors, et cetera, and then more and more revisions. But, I digress. Because there can be no edits of a blank page, am I right?
I want to tell you a little something about my journey, in hopes that it will help a fellow writer out there, perhaps struggling to finish the book he or she has been dreaming of writing for ages. When I first started putting “pen to paper” and pursuing my dream of writing books, I struggled to move forward in my manuscripts. I had a vision of the stories I wanted to tell. But when it came time to actually sit down and write, I stared at a blank screen A LOT and when I did put words on the page, I went over them time and time again, not making any progress.
A secret show of hands—who else has a nagging, perfectionist inner-editor?
Red Smith said, “There’s nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein.” I suppose that’s true, especially in those early drafts if we ignore the misplaced commas and the not-quite-right metaphors and just tell the story laid on our hearts.
Turning off our inner-editors can be daunting, but also freeing. Try to allow yourself to write like no one is ever going to read it.
In my first draft, I highlight, put an asterisk next to, or leave notes in my manuscript for my future self (editing mode me). Places where I skipped over worldbuilding or using the five senses just to get into the meat of the story, where the dialog is clunky and needs work, where action beats are too repetitive and need a fresh take, spots where something requires extra research, or I just hate what’s happening, etc. All the places I didn’t want to slow down my momentum by hunting down that perfect phrase or piece of information.
Now, I’ve been known to be pretty sassy to my future self. Feel free to be nicer to yourself.
Just remember during that rough draft, your only job is to get to the end as quickly as possible—whatever that means for you. Each writer has his or her own pace. I find that when I give myself the permission to make it as ugly as it needs to be, somehow the words come more easily and faster too. And often in my uninhibited state, that’s where the magic happens—some Godly truth or struggle or area of growth from my own life flows onto the page, living and breathing in my characters. Something I didn’t plan at all.
The opposite is true too. Anytime I’ve faced a block of some kind in my writing, it’s usually a direct result of me trying too hard to control the direction in that first draft (though that’s not to say I don’t plot, because I do). Or I’m continually rewriting/researching a section instead of making a note and moving on.
Have you heard the writing term RUE (Resist the Urge to Explain)? It’s a reminder for authors to allow readers to think on their own two feet, so to speak. Well, maybe we also need to Resist the Urge to Edit (in the first draft) and save our revising for the next step.
But here’s my encouragement for you today—and if you need someone else to give you the permission you need, I’m privileged to do so—write it ugly, friend. Write it messy. Write it scared. Write it with joy and a thrill of abandon. Write raw and from the very depths of your soul. Write it all, everything you want to say. Even if those just-for-you words are extraneous later. Whatever you do, just write it.
A collection of lost books holds the clues to her family’s legacy…and her future
Hope Sparrow has mastered the art of outrunning her tragic past. Never stay anywhere too long, never allow anyone control over her life again. Coming to Wanishin Falls in search of her family’s history already feels too risky. But somewhere in the towering stacks of this dusty old bookshop are the books that hold Hope’s last ties to her late mother—and to a rumored family treasure that could help her start over.
Only, the bookshop is in shambles, and the elderly owner is in the beginning stages of dementia and can’t remember where the books lie. To find the last links to the loved ones she lost, Hope must stay and painstakingly search the stacks for the treasured volumes. Each secret she uncovers brings her closer to understanding where she came from. But the longer she stays in the quaint town, the more people find their way into the cracks in her heart. And letting them in may be the greatest risk of all.
Mollie Joy Rushmeyer writes “Contemporary Fiction with a Heart for History.” What does this mean exactly? She loves to write inspirational fiction in contemporary settings with fascinating historical elements, people, objects, and stories woven throughout. A modern girl herself, she wouldn’t want to go a day without modern plumbing. But she’s always felt a special connection to the past. The legacies and lives left behind are like gifts waiting to be unwrapped, and shares this blend of history and contemporary living with readers.
A born and bred Midwestern gal, Mollie, makes her home in Minnesota with her husband and two spunky daughters. She is not only a bibliophile (the dustier the better, in her opinion), she’s a true anglophile at heart. Tea and coffee fuel her travels, by Google maps at least, and her passion for the written word.
Her debut novel with Love Inspired Trade/Harlequin will release October 25th, 2022.
She’d love to connect through social media: Facebook and Instagram
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