Don't Look Back Until You've Written An Entire First Draft

Don't look back until you've written an entire draft, just begin each day from the last sentence you wrote the preceding day. This prevents those cringing feelings, and means that you have a substantial body of work before you get down to the real work which is all in . . . the edit.

WILL SELF

Comments

[Emma Darwin]

Yes, that's my style too, and it's very true that more writers run aground on re-working and fiddling, than do on writing too fast and furiously. But I know writers who don't move on from a page, and then never change a thing, and it's terrific, and the book still gets written. Each to her/his own. If you're used to tuning in occasionally to your writerly self you'll soon get a feel for what suggestions are worth trying. Though it's worth recognising that if you resist a suggested process furiously, (as opposed to just forgetting about it) then maybe it's just what you should be doing.