Drafting and Editing

I know that there are some artists and writers who create beautiful work by spending hours, weeks, months, even years, carefully crafting each part of the finished work in their mind, and who do little if any revision at all. I am not one of these artists and I admit, I think they are fewer than those who are like me, and write badly, knowing that there will be the chance to make many revisions.
I’m not trying to convert anyone to my way of creating, but if you are like me, you may find it easiest to write sloppily, messily, quickly, and as unconsciously as possible. Sometimes my sloppy first drafts are brilliant, just as they are (rarely). Most of the time, there are brilliant pieces of my sloppy first drafts which I save and then add to, draft by draft, until all the parts fit together and are equally good. Sometimes, my sloppy first drafts are wretched all around and need to be either thrown out completely or reconsidered so thoroughly that it is almost the same thing.
If you work best this way, you need to figure out a way to disengage the critical part of your mind while creating. The critical faculty will be of enormous use later on. It’s just not going to help you while drafting. The critical part is mainly going to tell you one of the following:
1. I’ve seen this before in x, y, and z. This thought is not an original one. And in fact, this treatment is not an original one, either.
2. Those words are a very pedestrian way to get at that expression.
3. This whole section needs to be cut. And this one. It’s self-indulgent twaddle.
4. This character is so boring. Blah, blah, blah. Get to the interesting part!
5. This plot makes no sense at all. No real person would do that! The pieces are connected in the most arcane possible way.
6. Too much explaining. Also, too many new words that make no sense.
7. Are you trying to offend everyone on the planet?
8. Don’t you have anything deep to offer in your theme? Is this just a meaningless series of events?
Basically, the critical impulse is a replay of all the bad reviews you’ve ever read or written, about your book or anyone else’s.
The critical impulse isn’t necessarily there to stop you from writing, but for me, that is what the end effect is. It makes me think so hard and doubt myself so much that I can’t create new stuff while I’ve got it turned on. It’s only useful for telling me what’s wrong. But to fix what’s wrong, I still have turn off critical impulse and turn on creative impulse.
Creative impulse says one of the following:
1. Hey, try this! It’s awesome.
2. You are the most brilliant creator ever! Good for you! Isn’t this fun?
3. No one has ever said this before in quite this way.
4. You are creating something completely original. Isn’t that amazing?
5. What else can I add in to make this even more fun? How about giant spiders, monsters from outer space, and also some Jane Austen witty dialog?
6. I am this person I have created. I see the world completely from her point of view.
7. Let’s make some new rules for this world. And also, new magic. And throw in some people who break all the rules!
When I draft, I give my creative side free reign. But you must be aware as a creator that doing this is a dangerous thing. Your creative side isn’t always as brilliant as it would like to believe. So when you go back to your first draft, you must be just as eager to cut the parts that aren’t working as you are willing to write anything that pops into your head while drafting.
I sometimes cut 20k words in a day. And usually I don’t feel a twinge of pain because do you know—those words were all bad ones! I didn’t know it while writing them, and I didn’t want to know it. Writing them helped me get to the ones that were good, and I don’t regret my process.
Again, this may not be your process, but if it is, this may be helpful to think about. Now go forth and draft messily and edit judiciously!