Writing a Fast Draft
This past weekend I was at a writer’s retreat with Carol Berg and Robin Owens (I love the creative energy there)…and another writer, Susan Smith, (soon to be published) was hitting a wall. We encouraged her to keep putting down those words and stuff the internal editor in a steamer trunk.
There is something about that wall business and Candace mentions it in her FD class…and hitting a wall is a great way to think of it…a lot of time we hit walls when we exercise, when we do things that are stretching us. The thing is to push forward, allow the stuff to be garbage and get to the next part.
Two things will happen
1. The stuff really will be garbage but you can fix or delete it LATER and you got to the next good spot
2) The stuff really isn’t as bad as you thought it was and is salvagable.
The thing is by pressing on, you break that barrier and are able to go further.
Believe me, I ran the Dublin Marathon (don’t laugh ladies, I really did) and the training for it was tough. I hit a lot of walls and I kept telling myself just ten more steps, one more step, etc…and by golly I got through the training.
One thing we did in training though…
Once a week we had a really pedal to the metal day…pushed super hard (12 miles the 2nd week of training), but then we had easier days too…recovery days…if you wrote 2k and it exhausted you, write 500 words. If you still feel like writing add another 250…when you’re tired. Stop. But, do something each day so that when the time comes to run the 12 and then the 26 you’re in shape to do so.