Vomit Those Words

Don’t hold your hair back. Prepare for one hot mess.

It’s time to vomit your writing.

I don’t mean literally. But getting those words onto the page should be as simple as that.

The moment before you vomit is the worst. But the shame of not writing when you should have can be just as bad.

So relieve yourself.

Spew Those Words Out

Force yourself to write words, sentences, and pages. Don’t expect good words or sentences. Save that for editing.

If you can’t think of anything to write, then write down what you’re thinking. That might be what you need to get there.

But what about writer’s block? What about getting the writing right the first time around?

Ask this instead: Why polish your writing when you have nothing yet to polish? Writer’s block is simply taking your fear of not writing the perfect first draft too far.

Aim Now

When your upchuck is coming, do you debate where you should aim, when it should come out, or how you should execute?

Of course not.

Don’t overanalyze your first draft. Make a quick decision and go for it. If you don’t like it, cross it out and go in another direction.

Lower your expectations. Making the wrong choices now leads to better writing choices in the future.

Embrace The Yuck

Vomit isn’t pretty. Either is your first draft.

You have two choices:

• Rework it
• Flush it down the toilet

But the time you wasted writing that garbage!

Are you sad that your body didn’t fully process the food you vomit? Then why are you sad that you didn’t get to fully process your words into your story?

Did you learn what you did wrong? Do you see how you can make it better?

Then the practice was worth it.

How do you approach writing your first draft? Share your strategies below.