Since I committed to doing NaNoWriMo this month, I’ve been obsessed with words.
How many words have I written today? How many are in this scene? How many have I spent on blog posts and emails and grocery lists that could have been going towards the 50 thousand I need to complete this novel?
I’ve also picked up some words of wisdom.
When I complained that I wasn’t being as productive as I’d planned, my associates passed along these words:
- “Who cares? It’s your crappy first draft. Just get it done,” and
- “Forget about yesterday. Just do your words for today,” and
- “Shut up and write.”
Okay, that last one is mine. But it’s something I often tell myself when I start worrying if the words are any good, or if there will be enough of them, or if this crappy first draft will end up sitting next to the two previous such efforts on my hard drive, unloved and unedited.
Worrying gets you nowhere. But words can take you anywhere.
