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Get That Book Draft Done · The Daily Writer

• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Daily Writer Podcast, where we bring you tips and inspiration each day to help you build habits for writing success.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: For more resources, including your free Daily Rider Starter Kit, visit DailyWriterLife.com.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: This week we've been talking about ways to be a more productive writer.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're a perfectionist, writing a book can take a long time because you're trying to both edit and write as you go.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: And when you do that, it's super easy to get discouraged and just quit because it's taking so long.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: And I know firsthand because it's happened to me.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: A few years ago, before I got my act together as a writer and I started approaching my life very differently, I spent two or three years working on a book.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: And in the process, I compiled literally 150 pages of notes, yet I never actually finished the book.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: This was uh actually was a novel, and I did research and research and research, and I did put together all these notes and went through all these character studies and background and all this other stuff.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: And I think I only wrote like four or five thousand actual words of the novel, and I got so mired in research that I just gave up.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: And it's it's cool because I'm actually going to revisit that here in the next year or so.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: But in that moment, I was so frustrated and I just couldn't figure out a way forward.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: And that's really easy to do.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's easy to get into that pattern when you're focused on trying to make it perfect.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: Instead, I want to remind myself and I encourage you too to take John Steinbeck's advice about first drafts.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: He said this write freely and as rapidly as possible and throw the whole thing on paper.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: Never correct or rewrite until the whole thing is down.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: Rewrite in process is usually found to be an excuse for not going on.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: And my advice is to take Steinbeck at his word.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: Once you've outlined your book, try to get the first draft done as fast as possible.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: And this will give you incredible momentum because it's easier to work on a book that's complete.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: Even though you might have a messy first draft, at least you have a complete first draft of something.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: And you're going to feel a sense of accomplishment and motivation because you have something whole that you can work on and you can see the big picture.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: So here's today's challenge.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: Whatever project you're currently working on, try to get a first draft done as fast as possible.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: Don't overthink it.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: Just do it.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for listening, and I'll see you next time.