Often the hardest part of writing is ... writing. This is especially true for those of us who are perfectionists. I want to write because I have something new or compelling to say about the world. Yet I'm terrified to write because I realize how unlikely it is that the words I put on paper will actually communicate my vision to readers. Or worse yet ... what about those days when I'm
I want to write the final draft of the masterpiece. But the truth is, I won't get to the (maybe) masterpiece unless I write the pages of confusing, extraneous, and just-plain-bad first. I need to trust that my final draft will look very different from my first draft. I need to write the first draft ... now.
With that terrifying prospect in mind, here are a few quotes from published authors to get us started:
"The professional guts a book through ... in full knowledge that what he is doing is not very good. Not to work is to exhibit a failure of nerve, and a failure of nerve is the best definition I know for writer's block."
~ John Gregory Dunne
"Inspiration is to work every day."
~ Charles Baudelaire.
My personal favourite: "All first drafts are sh*t."
~ Ernest Hemingway
"A careful first draft is a failed first draft." &
"Write your first draft in one sitting."
~ Janet Burroway
