I'm actually proud to say that mostly this is because I've been hard at work writing for NaNoWriMo. I'm also really proud to say I've written every single day of my goal this year so far (I've still got two days left but I'm confident in myself to keep it up!).
I think NaNo is a great exercise in consistency, especially for people like me who write when the mood strikes. Has all of my writing this month been amazing? Absolutely not. In fact, I'm going to have a lot of work to do when I finally finish Brimstone and Fire book 2, because it is GARBAGE.
But you know what? That's okay. First drafts aren't meant to be pretty or polished or frankly, even make sense. What they're meant to do is get you into the story, to give you a foundation to work off of, and to give you a direction. For pantsers like me, first drafts are especially important because they determine what works and what doesn't in terms of your story.
I think people get a little too down on themselves sometimes when it comes to first drafts - they want them to be a finished, polished product with just one shot. And that's unrealistic! I love the drafting process, but I agree that I can also get frustrated when my drafts aren't that great.
Nano is fabulous for getting those first, crappy, unpolished, messy drafts out of the way. You have a consistent goal each day to write something, to get something down on paper. And once you've gotten over the first draft hump, rewriting and editing isn't nearly as horrific (although sometimes you have to write an entire POV character out and then it becomes a mess again... I'm not speaking from experience).
The art of the first draft is that there isn't one. First drafts are going to look different for everyone. Some people can accomplish a great draft in one go, and that's incredible. Most of us, however, will take a few tries to get a solid piece of writing that doesn't totally suck. And I am no exception. In fact, the first draft of OBBT was so bad, I scrapped the whole thing and ended up taking an entirely different route with it. And you know what? It came out better in the end.
I guess what I'm trying to say here is that Nano is a great practice for accountability with writing, but don't be disappointed when churning out all those words gives you something you cringe at. That cringey bunch of words is a first draft - and it's something to be proud of.
Happy writing, and see you next time!
Tia
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