I 100% support “write something then rewrite” over “do it right the first time” (which is essentially impossible in fiction writing of any length).
Have you ever heard of NaNoWriMo?
It’s a ‘contest’ where competitors try to write a 50K word novel in a month.
That’s an insane pace, and only a very few of the most prolific and experienced authors can write 50K QUALITY words.
The idea is it forces you to write something, to ‘turn off your inner editor’, and just write. The experience of writing without anxiety, just with a target, is really nice for most people and results in a creative torrent far exceeding what they’d do in a typical month, even if it’s rough around the edges.
I heard of NaNoWriMo before. Unfortunately that would be too much for me to handle. I am not a professional writer. I am just doing this in my free time and I just don’t have that kind of time, although I think this would definitely be worth checking out if it was during a holiday.
Here’s the thing: 50,000⁄30 is 1,666 words a day. 1,666 words a day is a lot, but if you’re a good typist you should be able to manage it in about an hour IF you focus on typing no matter what, and not trying to edit as you go. Do you spend an hour on the train commuting? Or watching TV?
Give it a shot, and see how far you get!
If you really don’t want to though, turning off your inner editor and pushing yourself to get some words down is still important.
I 100% support “write something then rewrite” over “do it right the first time” (which is essentially impossible in fiction writing of any length).
Have you ever heard of NaNoWriMo?
It’s a ‘contest’ where competitors try to write a 50K word novel in a month.
That’s an insane pace, and only a very few of the most prolific and experienced authors can write 50K QUALITY words.
The idea is it forces you to write something, to ‘turn off your inner editor’, and just write. The experience of writing without anxiety, just with a target, is really nice for most people and results in a creative torrent far exceeding what they’d do in a typical month, even if it’s rough around the edges.
I heard of NaNoWriMo before. Unfortunately that would be too much for me to handle. I am not a professional writer. I am just doing this in my free time and I just don’t have that kind of time, although I think this would definitely be worth checking out if it was during a holiday.
Here’s the thing: 50,000⁄30 is 1,666 words a day. 1,666 words a day is a lot, but if you’re a good typist you should be able to manage it in about an hour IF you focus on typing no matter what, and not trying to edit as you go. Do you spend an hour on the train commuting? Or watching TV?
Give it a shot, and see how far you get!
If you really don’t want to though, turning off your inner editor and pushing yourself to get some words down is still important.