Is RE-writing! The following quote by author Anne Lamott sums up what most writers go through when they’re trying to put word to page.
Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life, and it is the main obstacle between you and a shitty first draft. I think perfectionism is based on the obsessive belief that if you run carefully enough, hitting each stepping-stone just right, you won’t have to die. The truth is that you will die anyway and that a lot of people who aren’t even looking at their feet are going to do a whole lot better than you, and have a lot more fun while they’re doing it.
– Anne Lamott
source
Greetings, friends. I was thinking about this the other day, and one of the blogs I subscribe to–that would be the blog of author Kelley Eskridge–provided a great post about just this very subject, with that very quote. Kelley and her partner, author Nicola Griffith, run an editing service in addition to their other 9 million jobs/roles called Sterling Editing.
Kelley and Nicola blog over there, as well, and that’s where I found the blog “Rewriting” with that Lamott quote kicking it off. Kelley has some great tips there about approaching the re-writing process, tips that I use all the time in my own work. Give ‘em a try if you haven’t already.
At any rate, Lamott’s statement seems apt right now, given that many folks are currently engaged in National Novel Writing Month (or, NaNoWriMo), whose purpose is to get you to put 50,000 words to page within a month. It’s doable. I know because I’ve done it twice. And NaNo encourages you to ignore those voices of perfectionism that try to sabotage your process–the voices that tell you to go back and re-write, re-write, re-write, which is not possible during NaNo. Once you get your 50K words on paper, THEN you can re-write. And that’s where the REAL writing begins.
So don’t sweat that shitty first draft, as Lamott says. Get it onto the paper, bulldoze through it, then set it aside for a bit, as Kelley points out. Put that draft aside, get some folks to help you read it, and jump into your re-writing. The trick is getting that first draft completed so that you know you have a work there, you know you can get that draft hammered out. You’ve got to ignore that perfectionist streak while you’re working because it will sabotage your efforts. Nobody cares how shitty your first draft is, because nobody but your writing group members/beta readers are going to see it.
Go ahead. Have some fun with that first draft. After all, nobody’s perfect.
Happy writing!
Women and Words
Jove Belle
Andi Marquette
Clifford Henderson
Georgia Beers
Sandra Barret
Here’s the quote that I have on my desk: “Never correct or rewrite until the whole thing is down. Rewrite in process is usually found to be an excuse for not going on. It also interferes with flow and rhythm which can only come from a kind of unconscious association with the material.”
John Steinbeck, Writers at Work, Penguin.
There’s something exciting about racing toward a conclusion, breathless and surprised.
I freaking love Anne LaMott. She is wise and funny and an amazing writer and her words have helped me lift my chin up more than once. Love her.