“Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life, and it is the main obstacle between you and a shitty first draft. I think perfectionism is based on the obsessive belief that if you run carefully enough, hitting each stepping-stone just right, you won’t have to die. The truth is that you will die anyway and that a lot of people who aren’t even looking at their feet are going to do a whole lot better than you, and have a lot more fun while they’re doing it.”
Anne Lamott, author of Bird by Bird
Hellooooo is there anyone out there? I’ve been off chasing a toddler and working like a loon. I kind of fell out of the blogging habit again. I did absolutely nothing worth noting, or that’s what it seems like. So busy with so little output! And there probably won’t be much time for it next month either. Because…
Before long I will probably be wishing that I’d chosen to observe only National Bed Month in March, but I’ve got some other plans.
I’ve a big birthday looming and a sort of diary perfect storm means that I won’t be taking on much freelance work next month. But for some of that time, I’ll have lots of childcare so I have no excuse for not writing.
My plan is to bash out, as per Anne Lamott’s sage advice, a shitty first draft by the end of March. Or, #myownprivatenanowrimo as I’ve been calling it. Also #theshittyfirstdraftclub. Yes, I’ve been spending too much time thinking in hashtags and procrastinating already. And writing blog posts.
Are ya with me?! This will be SO MUCH FUN!*
*as anyone who has ever written anything knows, this is the well-recognised condition known as “Pre-writing Bravado”.
Let me know if you’re interested in being word-count buddies. Support, egging on, derision if targets aren’t met, all available by email.
Image from Novel Pursuit‘s Flickr stream under a creative commons licence
One Million Gold Stars 