1. Write the story
2. Edit the story

I know what you’re thinking. “Nadi, please be fucking for real.” Allow me to illustrate. 

Step 1: Write the story

Every author has talked to someone and discussed what we do and our body of work. The response is usually something like, “Oh! That’s amazing. I have a lot of ideas, I’ve just never written any of them!” We try to be encouraging (because we know other writers aren’t our competition. And secretly, we’d like to assimilate you all.) and we’re met with some version of, “Yeah, I don’t have time. I have kids, a job, school, gotta paint the woods, run for public office, etcetera and so forth.” So, we drop the conversation. Mind you, most active writers also have main jobs/careers, kids, school, walking goldfish, etcetera and so forth. Stephen King wrote “Carrie” while raising a family, battling alcoholism, and working at a laundromat (or some shit). Writers don’t decide to be writers then sit down and start churning out award-winning, money-securing masterpieces. 

We are very busy.

When I worked a register at Home Depot, I would write poetry and story ideas on the back of receipt paper (or any random papers I would find or grab from the office). We find moments, minutes, that eventually add up to hours, that add up to a completed work, that we later edit. 

I wish I could remember the author or title of this poem I read as an undergrad, but there was a line that said:

“if you wanna write pomes you gotta write pomes”

When Stephen King is asked how he writes his stories, he replies, “One word at a time.” 

When I say the first step is to write a story, it’s because most people who say they want to write, don’t make it to that step. I wrote about how even I struggled with that step for years and how it slowed my writing and growth as a writer. 

So, if you’re asking a writer how to write a good story, the first thing we’re gonna wonder (or even ask is), “What have you written so far?” Not because we’re judging your writing, but because the vast majority of people who say they want to write, never make it to that first step, Godforbid the second. 

Write the story. Grab a pen and paper, grab a typewriter, a computer, tablet, phone, sidewalk chalk, whatever you use and write the story. It sounds simplistic, obvious, and backhanded, but what are your other options? If you want to write a good story, you gotta write the story. The good part comes with editing and practice. Do you think movies are good on their first take? No! That shit is edited until it looks good. Writing is no different. Everything is edited, polished, and pasteurized before it’s presented to the public for consumption. 

But if nothing is made, nothing can be worked on. There’s nothing to work with. Get to that first step. If you want to be a writer, write the story. If you want to write a good story, edit the story you wrote. 

Step 2. Edit your story

Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch: “Whenever you feel an impulse to perpetrate a piece of exceptionally fine writing, obey it—whole-heartedly—and delete it before sending your manuscript to press. Murder your darlings”

“Take whatever lines you think are particularly brilliant and strike them out.” — I can’t remember who said this.

Editing is where the magic happens. Editing takes your story from an idea to greatness. It brings the story out of your head and into the reader’s. 

I can’t overstate the importance of having people outside yourself read your work. You know your story; you know your ideas, your characters, what you mean when you say certain things certain ways. Your reader may not. They are new to this. They are just joining you mid-sentence. They may (will) be late to the story you understand that your reader won’t. You need to know what those elements are. I’ve had readers tell me whole paragraphs and chapters made no sense. I understood it. I was in my head when I wrote it. They were not. 

This may include lines and dialog that you thought were particularly great. One thing I’ve learned, never be attached to anything in your story. Not a line, a paragraph, a chapter, not even a character. We’ve all watched movies and read stories that had characters who added nothing to the story or were there just for cannon fodder. If you watch director’s cut of movies, or director’s commentary, they talk about scenes they loved that ended up “on the cutting room floor.” 

It will be the same for you. 

You will have lines and scenes that exemplify your genius and skill. You may have to get rid of them. Take a deep breath, highlight those sections, cut them, paste them into a different file for later use in a different story. You will survive this. It will hurt. You will cry. It’s okay. It’s like clipping your edges to make your hair stronger and longer, like getting rid of the dandelions despite how much fun their seeds are. 

You’re working on a whole masterpiece, not one scene, one line, or one character. Everything links together. We’re getting rid of the weak links, trimming the frayed edges, cutting the knots. Sometimes, what you think is genius, is just weeds masquerading as flowers. 

And, of course, there is editing for grammar, punctuation, spelling, etc. All the basic cleanup. But the context is really where you want the most help. Context, clarity, continuity. People will forgive you for missing a comma, but if you change a character’s name or confuse the reader in any way, that’s harder to overlook. I was once DNFd because I was doing too much with too many characters and too many events. Valid. I also didn’t have anyone who would be honest with me before I published. 

This is where a community of writers, ARC readers, editors, etc are helpful, more helpful than your regular friends and family. Your friends and family love you and mean well, but they can’t help you like people who are engaged in your industry, who know what you’re looking for, what you need to hear to make your work better and make you a better writer. Link up with other writers. You read their work. They read yours. Yall help each other improve. Be prepared to hear deep critique and answer some important questions. That’s how you polish your work and turn a first draft into a good story. 

I’m Nadi Abdi, author of Power of the People: The Demon Cleaner book one. This is my blog on writing, publishing, and other lit biz shit. Follow my blog or follow my Substack for Demon Cleaner short stories and updates and where I publish reviews for Black Women in Fantasy.