“I would advise any beginning writer to write the first drafts as if no one else will ever read them – without a thought about publication – and only in the last draft to consider how the work will look from the outside.” – Anne Tyler
Amen to this, which comes from Anne Tyler’s Q&A in the back of A Patchwork Planet. I think it’s true for the experienced writer as well. Even writing under contract, it’s so important to hold true to the story you want to tell, rather than worrying about what the market wants to read.
And now I feel steeled to get through revisions to the last pages of my first draft, in hopes of having a second draft by the end of today. – Meg
