DEREK
New member
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2026
- Messages
- 10
I spent six months on my first chapter. Six months. I rewrote the opening paragraph dozens of times, convinced it had to be perfect before I could move on. Guess what? I never got past chapter one.
What finally helped was learning about "shitty first drafts" . Anne Lamott talks about this—how every writer produces terrible early versions, and that's not just okay, it's necessary. The goal isn't brilliance on the first pass. It's getting words on the page.
I started giving myself permission to write badly. Sentences I'd never show anyone. Scenes that would get cut later. Dialogue that sounded nothing like my characters. And you know what? Some of my best ideas came from those "bad" pages. You can't revise a blank page .
Another trick: lower the stakes . Tell yourself you're just exploring, not committing. No one needs to see this. You're not being graded. That mental shift frees you to actually write.
Now when my inner critic starts yapping, I say "not now, we're in draft mode." Revision is for later. Drafting is for getting it out. If perfectionism is blocking you, try writing the ugliest version you can manage. It's strangely freeing.
What finally helped was learning about "shitty first drafts" . Anne Lamott talks about this—how every writer produces terrible early versions, and that's not just okay, it's necessary. The goal isn't brilliance on the first pass. It's getting words on the page.
I started giving myself permission to write badly. Sentences I'd never show anyone. Scenes that would get cut later. Dialogue that sounded nothing like my characters. And you know what? Some of my best ideas came from those "bad" pages. You can't revise a blank page .
Another trick: lower the stakes . Tell yourself you're just exploring, not committing. No one needs to see this. You're not being graded. That mental shift frees you to actually write.
Now when my inner critic starts yapping, I say "not now, we're in draft mode." Revision is for later. Drafting is for getting it out. If perfectionism is blocking you, try writing the ugliest version you can manage. It's strangely freeing.
I've been stuck on the same introduction for weeks, convinced every sentence has to be perfect. "You can't revise a blank page" hit hard. Going to try the "ugly draft" method this weekend and just... let it be bad for now.