“Don’t be afraid to write crap because crap makes great fertilizer.” Jessica Brody
Some of us have jumped, head first, into the insanity of Camp NaNoWriMo for April. And, the point of NaNoWriMo is “Quantity over Quality.” Get the words down, no matter how bad they may seem. You can edit later. You can comb through your first draft and see what you can improve and salvage or what you have to pitch and alter entirely to make your work better.
Going with the fertilizer metaphor- Fertilizer is food for the plant. Think of your story idea as your plant. Some of the words you write make it grow and flourish. Some are weeds and need to go or they’ll kill your story. You can sort all of these out after the first draft is written. Unless you work better editing as you go, which is fine, too. There are no set rules on writing. Just guidelines and suggestions as to what works for some people, maybe you, maybe not.
It can be very frustrating. You may think you have an incredible idea but nothing you write makes sense. Don’t give up. There are tons of factors that go into this feeling. Maybe you’re tired. You have a day job along with your writing. You have family obligations. For me yesterday it was Easter and the fact that I was running all over the county like a crazy person because Husband and I have to go to two dinners. It was a miracle I was able to write the 800 words I did for my prologue. Creators deal with self-doubt and comparison syndrome. They look at those writers they idolize and say, “I’ll never be that successful. I’m not that talented.” But, they don’t consider that JK Rowling and Stephen King have been at it for years. And, JK Rowling got rejected 13 times before a publisher picked up Harry Potter. You can do it. It takes time and experience and hard work. You can do it.
Pick through the crap, find what works, tweak what doesn’t and you will have a book you will be proud of.
If you’d like more NaNoWriMo tips- I created a Camp Edition on my Patreon for $1 patrons and up.