Quality Not Required… For Now!

Oh dear me, I had managed to post a lot sooner than this but I have been struck by this absolutely feverish pace of NaNoWriMo writing, and I'd say that my obsessive nature is finally paying off for something. I'm at 40,000 words and it's only the 14th. If I can keep up this pace, I could have met the 50,000 word challenge at just about mid-month.

I am fully aware that it's certain not 40,000 good words. It will probably be the roughest thing I've written since I started writing more than ten years ago and will take a lot, a lot, a lot of editing to make it half-decent, but I'm okay with that.

What have I learned about NaNo so far?

Well, for someone who writes as much as I do, joining this project might have seemed a little silly, but it's given me a hard-set goal, which I like, but more importantly it has given me permission to, well, suck. The point is to just write. Don't stop to worry about how it sounds now, or revise as you go. Just write and write and write!

As a compulsive fixer, writing stories can take me a while because I'm always second guessing my words. This experience has given me permission to write lousy stuff, so long as I actually write it. It's made me remember that there's no shame in heavy editing later, but it's getting that first draft done that's important.

This is not a lesson I've learned very well. I used to be able to do it, but then something happened and I started doubting myself and it severely impacted my writing. I've been getting past that more recently, but NaNo is cementing a very important lesson for me, and for any other writers who have similar issues.

The moral of the story is that as long as your basic idea and characters are sound, the initial prose does not have to be perfect when it hits the page. The words just need to get out there, and you can fix it later. For now, don't worry about it, and just write!