I write a lot about sloppy copy. It’s my solution to silencing that internal voice that finds fault with anything you write and prevents you from starting–let alone completing–your book. Bashing out material that doesn’t even count as a rough draft effectively disables your inner critic. That includes slopping out your book beginnings.
Before we go any further, let me reinforce the need to “bash out” or “slop out” your copy. This is not the place to worry about style or even spelling for that matter. I’m talking written stream of consciousness here or, if you need a visual, purging on the page. Once you let it all hang out, you’ll likely find two things when you re-read your positively inelegant prose: your voice and your lead.
Yes, buried in all that sloppy copy will likely be a couple of potential book beginnings. Choose one and start cranking out the rest of your first chapter and all those chapters that follow. With a couple of book beginnings to choose from, how do you know if you’ve chosen the right one? You don’t. And you won’t until you’ve got a sloppy draft of your whole book.
The fact is that you can’t worry about how the book begins until you’ve hit the end because how you wrap up your book will impact how you have to start it. Or, as author and publishing expert Jane Friedman recommends in the title of one of her blog posts: “Find the ending before you return to the beginning.”
Even if you think you know where your book is going to conclude before you start writing, whether you’re writing a novel, a memoir, or nonfiction, the creative process will likely impact your final chapters, which will, in turn, impact your book’s opener. So why sweat something that almost by definition is going to change?
Will you be tempted to go back to that first chapter and tinker instead of writing new pages? Sure. Reworking words already on a page is a heck of a lot easier than coming up with entirely new pages. Let me assure you that you will get the chance to rewrite and/or edit. You’ll likely need to revise your book several times, especially if you’ve taken my advice and cranked out a sloppy copy first draft. Until then, however, refining your first chapter before you’ve reached the end of your book is a waste of time.
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