Over a year ago, Jodi Meadows shared the following with me: (She doesn't take credit for it, but also doesn't remember where she learned it. If you know the original author, please share.)
In our pursuits, we move through four distinct levels of competence:
LEVEL 1: Unconscious incompetence (Our work sucks and we have no idea that our work sucks)
Most (if not all) first-time novelists fall into this category. It's why they dissolve in tears or explode in anger if anyone points out the tiniest fault in the Masterpiece.
LEVEL 2: Conscious incompetence (Our work sucks and we know it sucks)
A wonderful transformation occurs when we REALIZE our work sucks, because then we can start working to make it NOT SUCK. Miss Snark's legendary critique of my first page is what propelled me into Level 2.
LEVEL 3: Conscious competence (Our work is good, but it takes a conscious effort to make it good)
In other words, we know what we're doing now, but we still have to think about it.
LEVEL 4: Unconscious competence (Our work is good and we don't have to think about it to make it happen)
The level of "arrival." Seriously. I'm pretty sure people like Marian McPartland (jazz pianist) and Yo Yo Ma (cellist) fit into this category.
I'm at Level 3. Sometimes I DESPAIR of the anguish of clean plotting and the hair-pulling tedium of worldbuilding. WHY can't this come easily for me? WHY do I adore writing when it brings me so much PAIN during the process?
All the same, I'm thankful to be here. Things happen--especially while I'm editing or revising--that remind me I know what I'm doing. I'll spot an extraneous prepositional phrase and strike it out before it has a chance to protest. I notice a dialogue beat at the end of a line of dialogue and quickly move it to the front. (Okay. When this happens, I actually hear Holly Bodger scolding me in my subconscious.) And sometimes I'll read a passage or scene or chapter and actually get swept up by the story. Makes me feel sort of dorky, but there you have it.
Also? Just this morning, I found a small Jodi-ism in my novel. Which is proof that you'd better surround yourself by, get critiqued by, and READ good writers. Because despite the fact that you've got your own voice and style, you WILL be influenced by what you read.
So. What's your level of competence? If you're not sure, ask a trusted critique partner. I think this blog is high on the "Level 3" meter, for sure. And I don't think any of you are Level 1, or you wouldn't be here trying to improve your writing!
Fascinating stuff. And now, back to finishing the draft o'love (which goes out to my readers next week!).
Ooo, great minds! :) I just posted about this today too.
ReplyDeleteI think we never actually "arrive" at level 4 because there's always something new to learn. Don't despair, that's a good thing. :)
I think I'm a 2, leaning over the cusp of 3.
ReplyDeleteI say that because some days I'm a 3, and some days I'm a 2 and I haven't the foggiest what rhyme or reason makes the difference.
I LOVE this scale!
"Two," she said wearily, and deleted another #$%^ adverb.
ReplyDelete:)
I think it's also important to remember you can be at multiple levels at a time, just with different things. Maybe you're at 4 with grammar, but 3 with style. Or 3 with grammar, and 4 with dialogue.
ReplyDeleteOr, you know, any combination of things.
Oh, well, in that case, I claim level 4 on grammar. Wouldn't you say? ;D
ReplyDeleteDo you have a flag to claim it with?
ReplyDeleteAnd then there's the rare few you want to whack with a stick:
ReplyDeleteLevel OMG: The level where someone freewrites for 2 weeks and turns out a novel's worth of pure gold, despite the fact that they haven't read a book in 6 years or used spell check.
:-P
I first came across this concept on Mary Kole's Kidlit blog: http://kidlit.com/2010/12/22/dealing-with-rejection/
ReplyDeleteThis is terrific! I have no idea where I am-- I'd like to say at level 3, but then if I were at Level 1, how would I know???
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone really ever get past level three? Please tell me they don't... I feel like I never will. ;)
ReplyDeleteSara
http://smreine.com/
I see myself at level 2. While for some Level 3 may seem frustrating, for me, reaching Level 3 would be exciting.
ReplyDeleteI've only recently graduated to level 3. And now I'm having to basically rewrite my entire WIP because of it. XD It's exciting, though, because I can clearly see what's wrong, and therefore I can also see how to fix it. I know what my novel WILL look like, eventually, even if it takes way too much work to get it there.
ReplyDeleteI think I'm at three for most things, although I'm definitely a 4 for grammar. I don't need to think about that anymore, which is a good thing, I guess.... Just gives me more time to obsess about word choices and whether or not to use a dialogue tag.
ReplyDeleteLevel 3 for me. I distinctly remember hitting level 2 while i was still working on my BA for creative writing. I was lucky to have some great teachers and peers
ReplyDeleteMary Kole! I remember seeing this scale on Mary Kole's Kidlit blog, but I'm not sure if she's the original author or not.
ReplyDeleteLevel 2 for everything: Officially I suck, suck, and suck the biggest crappy writing lollipop in history. But... (yes, I have one) like you said Authoress, I am trying to change that. Wish I could be in that Josin mentioned level OMG! That would make this process a little different.
ReplyDeleteI started writing at level 2. I had researched the industry so much that I never thought my first draft was actually good. Right now I think I'm at 3 (though 4 with grammar), but I slip to 2 often during revisions.
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely still a level 2. Not so great yet, but working to get better!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely level 2 but working on that elusive level 3 :)
ReplyDeleteI also saw this on Kidlit, though, like others have said, no clue as to whether Kole is the original author. Hmm...I believe I graduated from level 1 about two years ago, and level 2, one year ago. If I keep this up, I'll be at four soon, right? ...Right? ;) I might be a four in the writing of papers/essays/ect. Or else my English professor just loves me and ignored my mistakes--I made 100 on every paper I turned in last semester. (Best professor ever.)
ReplyDeleteLove this post-I saw it at Kidlit too. I feel like I am at level three, but I will be there for awhile, I think.
ReplyDeleteI get #1 and #4 confused all the time. How do I tell?
ReplyDelete;)
Well, I think I can do the writing part - the typing of words in fairly good grammatical construction.
Plotting? Characters? World? Theme? THOSE ARE HARD THINGS - WHY DO YOU MAKE ME DO THEM?
I like Hunter Thompson - why can't I just do that?
My constant fear is that I'm stuck at level 1 and deluding myself that it's any different. ;)
ReplyDeleteI think I'm at level 2.9 or so. Good characters, nice word flow, great dialogue, but my action scenes are so abrupt they knock you on the ass and leave you scratching your head, wondering where on earth (or the plot) THAT came from.
ReplyDeleteLevel 2-- longing for level 3 or 4.
ReplyDeleteI found this whole post so inspiring! You work so hard when you're at Level 2, as I am, to get to Level 3. And you think the hard work will never end.
ReplyDeleteBut I guess I now ride a bike without trainers, and without concentration, and it's probably the same with writing. Eventually, if you persist for long enough, good writing becomes second nature. Thanks for making me feel less like Sisyphus ^_^
Love the levels. Though I would submit that Level 4 is purely theoretical. I bet most of the people we believe are Level 4 would tell you that it's a severe and very conscious effort to make their work look that way.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I'll put myself in Level 3 until one of my critique partners says otherwise (in which case I drop back to 1, I guess).
I would like to believe I am at level 3. But then, I always think my works sucks more than others.
ReplyDeleteLevel Three Fist-bump!
ReplyDeleteIt comes out of The Kirkpatrick Model by Donald L. Kirkpatrick. It's mostly found in business training type workshops, seminars, etc.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Diana!
ReplyDeleteI think I'm a three for some things, like dialogue. Two for punctuation. Plotting seems to fluctuate between two and three. Sometimes by the hour, because what sounded great in the morning has turned to garbage by noon.
ReplyDeleteI can say with almost perfect confidence that I've passed level 1. Beyond that, I don't know. I hope I am at least emerging from 2, but sometimes I have serious doubts. My grammar and usage is pretty solid, at least. Plotting and characterization? Eh. I have much to learn. But that's what great writers' communities like this are for. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm going to go with level 4 over-all, with level 2 grammar. Though who really knows, I could be in level one denial and that's why I don't have an agent.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great post. I'm thinking I'm a 3 but my plotting abilities are still at a 2+.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of a great book I have called Art and Fear, where level 4 would be likened to "genius". So I'm wondering if level 4 is really attainable, or just there to keep us on the journey.
I also keep asking myself why I love something that continually makes me want to rip out my own hair. If you figure it out, please let me know ;)
I fluctuate between level 2 and 3, but more leve 2 than 3.
ReplyDeleteHmm... 2 or 3- the days I feel 'inspired' are 3, and the ones when I force myself to write despite the fact that it is patently not working are 2's :P Hopefully I'm not completely in denial!
ReplyDelete