Down With The Analyst!

Last week, I answered a few of the questions that BJ's open forum had given and one of you had a great comment afterward asking about over-analyzing yourself when writing fiction, particularly after writing lots of background info on your story.

Ah, the fun of outlining! :)

Sorry - I make lots of fun of outliners but mostly it's because I don't have the talent or the attention span to outline an entire novel, write pages and pages of character histories (most of which won't end up in the book), create an entire town's layout and history and then go back and write the actual novel. So my making fun is really a cover-up for being very jealous. By the time I've finished writing one character's personal history, I could care less about what happens to him or her in the story since I already know everything about them.

Here's what I usually start with: Name, approximate age, a few rough details about their appearance and maybe a quick line about their work, past, fears or goals (whatever is more applicable to the type of story I'm writing).

Then, I sit down. I open a Word document, fix the settings and start typing. When I finish writing that day, I close it without reading back through it. The next day, I read back through what I wrote the day before, make any corrections that need to be made and start typing again.

So, how do you write a novel without over-analyzing it?

If you can write anything without over-analyzing it, I want to know your secret!! The truth is, you will never think your work is good enough, regardless of what you are writing (I can't even accept a grocery list is good, much less a manuscript!).

Turning off your inner analyst is going to take more than just you - take time to pray about it. Memorize verses like 1 Peter 5:12 - "My purpose in writing is to encourage you and assure you that the grace of God is with you no matter what happens." If you can keep the purpose for your writing at the front of your mind, somehow the inner analyst tends to quiet down.

Or at least he stays quiet momentarily.

Another good rule of thumb? Do your best to edit your work, submit your manuscript to a publisher or agent and DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES open the manuscript back up to look at it if it is accepted! You'll see every mistake in glaring detail - let the copyedit team take care of that and you just try to remember that your work is done.

Take that, Mister Analyst!