Stop Your Damn Editing and Write!

We're a few days into NaNoWriMo. You've likely churned out a few pages, maybe even a few chapters.

Hooray!

But that doubt is creeping in. That little voice in the back of your mind is whispering to you, telling you to fix that sentence. Telling you to rewrite that paragraph. Maybe even telling you to scrap the whole thing and rewrite everything.

DON'T DO IT.

NaNo is about writing a first draft in thirty days, not having a publishable product by the end of the month. First drafts are word vomit, nothing more than putting words on the page in a semi-logical order. So what if you're grammar is terrible and you keep misspelling the ridiculously long and complicated name you gave your main character? Who cares if you have plot holes the size of the Grand Canyon? You'll fix them eventually, but that's not what first drafts are for. They're meant to get the ideas flowing, yes, even the bad ones. It allows you to pursue your creativity whether you are following an outline or pantsimg the hell out of this thing. First drafts, once they're complete, allow you to see what works and what should be burned in a dumpster fire.

Put the red pencil down and break your backspace button. Relax.

You can't edit nothing, so get the words on the page so you can come back to it in January with clear eyes.

Stop it. I know you did it again. I see you Stop or I'll smack your hand every time you try.

Happy NaNo!