The Writing Diaries: Done is Better Than Perfect

This week's update is inspired by Lavendaire's video 'Done Is Better Than Perfect'. I've really struggled in this first week of Camp NaNoWriMo and for one simple reason: my inner perfectionist, combined with a really, really busy work-week, has taken any time and inspiration away from me.

Now, I know that you have to write even when you're not inspired. I'm not one of those people who sits around, waiting for 'The Muse' to show up and wave a magic wand and make my WIP perfect. Otherwise I'll be waiting an awfully long time, and this WIP will NEVER get finished.

But this does mean that I'm a week down on my target, so I need to write at least 5k this week - something which will be a really hard task given that this is the last full week of this term and my to-do list is fearful.

This novel has been growing and developing for the last eighteen months, and I'm still only 35-40k in. And I've only written 20k in the last year, which makes me feel really awful about writing, truth be told. What kind of writer am I if I've only churned out 20k in a YEAR? It feels like I'm never going to finish it, or I will but then I'll have to re-read it all over again and probably rewrite most of it, and who knows how many years that'll take?

So I spent some time looking for inspiration from my subscriptions list on YouTube, because having someone talk to me positively about achieving your goals is something that really works for me. And, after watching Lavendaire's 'Done Is Better Than Perfect' video, it reminded me that if I don't stop myself from wanting this first draft to be perfect then it'll take me YEARS to get this book finished. And that's not sustainable nor going to help me achieve my dream goal of having it as a real life book in front of me at some point in the future!

And I need to remember - a done scene is better than a perfect scene. A half-started draft of a scene is better than a non-existent perfect scene, because at least it is done!

I tried this last night and it did feel like pulling teeth. The scene wouldn't work, my character's voices weren't 'there' in the way they usually are, but still. I got something done.

And that, for now, is better than perfect.

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What I'm Grateful For In Week One: Being able to successfully identify my inner perfectionist and realise how it's negatively impacting on my writing.

What My Goal Is For Week Two: Make my scene cards to give myself direction moving forwards to write several thousand words.

Writing Soundtrack This Week: To Be Human (from the Wonder Woman soundtrack)

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