I asked Joan Reeves of http://SlingWords.blogspot.com if I could share a note she recently posted on a conversation at LinkedIn. There is some excellent wisdom here!
All writers reach a point where they think the WIP (work in progress) is pure garbage. If you have finished the first draft, rejoice! Set it aside for a while. Then you can come back to it with fresh eyes. Novels are not so much written as they are rewritten.
If you have not completed the WIP, then give yourself permission to write crap and keep plowing ahead until you get to the end. A bad page of writing can always be fixed. A blank page is just that–blank.
Don’t let self-doubt stop you from writing. When you have a manuscript in progress, do NOT make any assessments or judgements about the writing. That comes later. Just get it finished.
I particularly like the line, “a blank page is just…blank.” Something is better than nothing. Thanks for the advice, Joan!
