Don't Think. Just Type

I've mentioned how I've become a fan of fast drafting. Of letting the words flow without stopping to edit. Just typing until I was finished drafting. This is how I wrote TOUCH OF DEATH, and it was my favorite novel to write. It's the book where I connected most to the characters and their story.

While drafting that book, I learned the story isn't mine to tell. I have to stop thinking, stop planning, and give my characters control to take me on their journey. With my current WIP, I got stuck after chapter one. I thought about where the story was going and I outlined the plot. Still I couldn't write. The problem? I'd over thought the story.

So I gave myself permission to stop thinking. Put my hands to the keyboard and type. How? I told my MC, Sam (I'm not allowed to call her Samantha. She doesn't like it.), to go ahead and tell her story. And she did. All day and all night. She never stopped talking. She woke me up to jot down bits of dialogue. She interrupted dinner to tell me what she was going to do next. And I loved her for that.

When was the last time you let yourself just type without over thinking? Do you tell the story or does your MC?[image error]