Elizabeth Gootzeit

(Alternate title: “That writing advice you hear all the time? Probably true.”)

You’ve probably heard the saying, “Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.” Well, what I need to hear is: “Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the done.”

As they say, “you can’t edit a blank page.” Unfortunately, one can edit a sentence, a paragraph, a page or two…over and over until the end of time. And then you’ll run out of steam and that’s it for whatever you’re working on.

I get it: my favorite part about writing is when I’ve got a nice warm beverage beside me, a carefully curated playlist cranked up just a biiitt too loud, and the creative spirit carries me along. I love to get to that magical place where nothing is getting between me and my story. But if I only write when the planets so align, I don’t get much writing done, if any.

And a draft, no matter how rough or how polished, is only the beginning. You need to have the whole thing down to even begin to see what the story is.

So how to get that rough draft out? Think of it as the “vomit draft.” Again, I was a chronic pantser who would inevitably run out of steam on one project, tumble into a fallow period…then, weeks or months later that creative spark would appear once more and the cycle began anew.

I did not want this anymore, I wanted to finish things.

One experience I credit with my development was NaNoWriMo (RIP). Yes, the organization went down in flames after some very valid backlash, but I did benefit from the community and the framework.

I first tried NaNo my freshman year of college, and it took several more attempts before I was an official “winner” with 50,000 words down in 30 days. With NaNo, it’s all about the word count, and honestly that is how I have to make myself draft today. Man, those progress graphs in NaNo were satisfying to some animal part of my brain. Now I use Scrivener, and in that you are able to set word count goals (daily, project) and see your stats over time.

Nowadays I do a lot more planning/outline before I start drafting, which I will delve into more next time.

A first draft just has to exist. So, how can you get it out? Do that.

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Recent reads
Of Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara Truelove
Recently watches
Trying to finish Cobra Kai on Netflix…one episode left
Wonder Man on Disney has been great so far, best Marvel show in a long time
One Piece (live action)