For today’s post I’m going to share some of the things I took away from the 20 Books Vegas 2019 conference today. One of the speakers was Dean Wesley Smith, icon of the industry and writer of novels spanning Star Trek, Men in Black, and Spider Man.
Out of the eight things he mentioned, several related to doing multiple drafts of a story. His advice was basically don’t. Have fun. (and just between us editing drafts is not my idea of fun)
“Why would I look at it again? I know how it ends.”
Dean Wesley Smith
He also said you should believe in your work. Just do the best you can then. Referencing Heinlein’s Rules of Writing #3 – Don’t Rewrite.
For me it’s kind of a mixed blessing message. Letting go of the need to rewrite and go through several drafts is liberating. However, accepting the ending product’s quality is harder. Fortunately, that’s when I can employ Smith’s last two items. Nobody Cares and Calm Down.