Get ready to hear more about Australian author Max Barry. In the past I’ve blogged about Max’s Tales from the Cubicle and his take on author royalties, but with the release of his latest book, Company, you’re going to hear a lot more about Max.
He’s just wrapped up a North American tour and his book is being hailed by the New York Times and doing very well on Amazon (the fifth best-selling novel at the time of this post.)
Despite being one of the sharpest writers skewering the bloated world of marketing hype and corporate mafiadom, Max is also a writer who gives back to his fans and aspiring writers. He’s built a great comunity on his site and has some great tips for emerging writers on there as well.
Another reason I like Max is because he subscribes to the “All First Drafts are Sh*t” rule. As a veteran of many first drafts, I’ve learned this little writing law the hard way. Max goes into greater detail in his essay on first drafts and editing over at Chuck Palahnuik’s slightly scary site.
Whether you love or hate your first draft of any story, there is no denying that it can always be edited and always made better. Some writers hate this and some writers love it. I’m on the fence. But Max, well Max loves editing. I would even say that maybe he loves it too much, but then he is the one with two movie deals and a new novel that’s being compared to Joseph Heller’s Catch-22. I’ll take his word for it.
Here’s what Max has to say on editing:
But if you’ve finished a first draft and have the niggling feeling that it could be better-that it should be better-then pull up a chair. I’m your man.
Read the rest of the great piece at: chuckpalahniuk.net
tagged: [writing] [editing] [love_it_or_die]
