Heinlein also said this:
There’s a problem, in my opinion, for writers who like good writing. (The same thing happens to musicians who like good music.)
Critiquing while something is unfinished not only wastes time (which might be trouble enough), but it easily creates a situation where as soon as you’ve written the amount you can keep in mind at any given moment, you endlessly work that over and get no further, until it’s a self-contained-but-useless masterpiece.
If you write with an outline or plan, fine. If you write without one, fine. Regardless of methods, you have to finish the whole thing, completely fleshed out, early in the process. And then critique the writing.
If you make a truly bad beginning, don’t work on it - throw it away.
My most important tip as an unpublished author is to read widely in the category/ genre which you intend to write. That means if you want to write a middle grade novel, READ a LOT of middle grade novels. Make sure you know the trends. What kind of stories are getting published right now? Nothing screams “newbie author” like dismissing a whole category while simultaneously trying to add to it.
My next-most important tip is not to let your moral drive the story. You say you’re interested in a story about bullying. IMHO, that’s the wrong way around. Write the story first, see where it leads you, then in your second draft, hone in on the themes you want to develop. My WIP is about a teen who threatens self-harm to get her own way. I had NO IDEA this character would end up in this situation, and yet here we are.
Once you have something you think is worth reading (NOT a first draft), try Scribophile to find critique partners. Make sure you’re ready for the feedback, though. If you want to argue with your critiquers, you’re probably not ready.
And finally, a down and dirty words on the page tip: change your font colour to white. Yes, white text on white background. Do your best, and clean up the typos at the end of the day. If you can’t reread it, you can’t change it.
“…but it easily creates a situation where as soon as you’ve written the amount you can keep in mind at any given moment, you endlessly work that over and get no further, until it’s a self-contained-but-useless paragraph.” FTFY. :o
The play is starting out as being about bullying, but that’s subject to change. A topic “plucked from the headlines” ain’t original, but it is saleable. And I did some research today with one of my daughters to get an idea what kids got bullied about in the Oughties. “Were new kids bullied for being new?” (I ran into that.)
“Nah. They were cool until they weren’t. But there was one Lithuanian kid named ‘Rocky.’ We asked him what his real name was and he said we couldn’t pronounce it.”
“Probably not.”
“He stayed cool but he was nice and real tall. Not gawky; he just looked like he was seventeen.”
“Good Viking stock.”
“That was halfway through eight grade and most people started acting nice because they wanted to be treated nice. The bullies started being shunned and by high school we didn’t even think about them.”
“I told you that middle school sucked and high school would be lots better.”
“Yeah!”
Had to write that down while the exact words were still in my memory.