You don’t start out writing good stuff. You start out writing crap and thinking it’s good stuff, and then gradually you get better at it. That’s why I say one of the most valuable traits is persistence.
Octavia E. Butler
The realization that it was okay to write a crappy first draft is one of the most freeing discoveries of my entire writing life.
My first draft would never be perfect, not matter what, but for years I refuse to believe it. I used their lack of perfection as a club to beat myself up with.
Acceptance of this fact opened the floodgates so I could write with while abandon, without caring how the words came out.
THAT the words came out, that’s what mattered because they could always be fixed later.
[bctt tweet=”The beauty of this realization is that I write more words each day, and I write them more easily.”]
The angst that used to plague me as a young writer is gone, replaced with a more whimsical view of writing.
What I write each day is far less important that THAT I write each day.
This persistence, this daily practice, delivered a wonderful miracle over time, too.
My first drafts suck less.
My first drafts are actually pretty good.
This still surprises me, though, because after this revelation I never expected to write a decent first draft.
Your daily writing habit will deliver the same results for you.
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