Season 2, Episode 30: Is It Even Good Enough?
IN THIS EPISODE
“How your life goes, your writing goes.”
The past couple of weeks Abby’s been doubting her writing, and has been dealing with a lot of heavy life questions in the meantime.
“All I can think of is, is it even good enough?”
She was relieved to get Kemlo’s feedback this week – the things she needs to work on is all small stuff. It’s what she likes about having a book coach – knowing that she’s on the right track, helping her with confidence in her moment of weakness. Kemlo, for her part, feels like Abby put into her protagonist what she was wanting to feel for herself: confidence, transformation, etc. The whole story of Bernadette is lighthearted and humorous, but deals with some pretty big questions.
Kemlo has worked with around 80 writers at this point, and she hasn’t worked with anyone who didn’t have some self doubt. The ones that went on (vs the ones that quit) had the determination to not let that stop them from moving forward. Indeed, having no doubt is a warning sign – overconfidence doesn’t lend itself well to revision.
This week, Abby’s protagonist takes control of her situation. The kids at school making fun of her for her purple house? Go big or go home, Bernadette! Abby had this whole scheme written out, with a purple dress and Bernadette’s social destruction, and it was really fun to write, but then she asked herself – how does this serve the story? It didn’t. Abby put on her editor’s hat and decided to wipe the whole chapter, and instead, Bernadette has an awakening, a plan, and a powerful moment of decision. Sometimes you need to take a step back and ask yourself what your scene is doing for your characters and your book as a whole, and it takes a certain amount of bravery and faith in yourself and your characters to highlight the whole thing and press the delete button.
