On a long plane ride, I decided to delete a chapter from a rough draft. I agonized over it. Yes, 8,345 words bit the dust. I found the following quote:
“One thing that helps is to give myself permission to write badly. I tell myself that I’m going to do my five or 10 pages no matter what, and that I can always tear them up the following morning if I want. I’ll have lost nothing—writing and tearing up five pages would leave me no further behind than if I took the day off.”
The lesson made me feel better, at least for a while.
Sigh.
Notes:
- Writing is a labor of love, the important lesson is to build on the story each day, the gaps in your head and the page are hard to reconcile.
- The headliner picture was taken in Rome, early 2000s. There used to be a coffee shop at the foot of the Spanish steps where I wrote at briefly. Solid writing places should be part of any routine.
