Every novel teaches me something. These are a few lessons I’ve learned while writing my own.
1. Your early drafts don’t have to be good. Bad writing isn’t failure. It’s the first draft doing its job.
2. If you’re afraid to revise, you’re afraid to write. Revision is where the story gets built.
3. Cut what isn’t serving the story, even if you love it. A scene can be beautifully written and still not belong. Those aren’t the same thing.
4. Revise big before you revise small. Fix the story before you fix the sentence. Polishing a scene that shouldn’t exist is wasted work.
5. Feedback isn’t a verdict; it’s information. You don’t have to take every note, but you do have to sit with why it bothered you.
