The Writing Life

So far, I've typed roughly 2400 words in 3 days. Not too sure if that's good or if I'm somehow lagging behind. The submission guidelines require a minimum of 3000 words which I should hit within the next few days. My biggest problem right now is that I hate what I've written so far. Garbage. Crapola. Elementary-schoolish. This is just the first draft so I know nothing is as it should or will be. I've stopped myself numerous times from highlighting the entire document and pressing the delete key.

Another problem for me deals with editing. Because of my blog and how I write in general, I'm used to editing as I go. (In fact, I re-wrote that last sentence three times before feeling satisfied.) I set the story aside and my mind quickly jumps to better ways of saying this or describing that. Instead of re-booting the computer and typing away, I'm forcing myself to make notes elsewhere, to get the basic story written first. I can, and most definitely will, edit later.

And at the back of my mind, the doubts swirl and gain momentum. Will the publisher accept it? Will anyone want to read it? Is my writing really as bad as I think it is? I should give up now and be done with it, after all, this is something I want to do not need to do. I'm my own worst enemy at times.