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Permit Yourself to Suck

This is probably the most difficult step of them all. If you're anything like me, you want every word you write to be just so. You have, in fact, caught yourself writing a paragraph, throwing it out, writing another, and repeating until you found yourself buried in a sea of paper snowballs. Do not do this. It makes baby trees cry, and its very bad for your writer's soul.

Let it suck. It's a first draft, for crying out loud. And if it's the second or third draft, well, let that suck, too. I can almost guarantee that if you finish it, and put it away for a period of days (at least a week), you will find merit in what you've written. You have my permission to moan and groan about how terrible it is, even while you're writing it, but write it anyway. Explore every half brained idea that comes into your mind, if you like. Swear like a sailor as you reluctantly commit the stupidest, most ridiculous sentences to paper. But commit yourself to the act of writing as a process, a process that includes writing the worst first draft you could possibly write. If you do this, you will find yourself with a half decent second draft, a pretty good third draft, and an excellent fourth draft.

And there you have it. Five small things you can do that will move you towards a disciplined writer's life. There are a thousand more things you can do to improve your writing. There are books you can read, and exercises you can undertake. But you must begin writing before these will have any impact whatsoever.

So, begin, already!

Happy Quills!

Learn more about this author, Caitlin Maclaine.
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