Sore Fingers And Back

The second day of writing wasn't as good as the first, but it was still a valiant effort none the less. Wednesday I managed seventeen pages and yesterday ten. That's twenty seven pages in two days, an achievement in any one's book.

I now have twenty pages to go and I'm in no rush to tell you the truth. Some of the pages on Wednesday were crap and I don't really want to repeat that, so I will be taking my time on the last twenty pages (say five pages a day next week) to ensure decent quality.

What have I learnt from the last couple of days? My rush to get the script finished has been a reminder that to survive as a writer you have to write. Sounds such a simple thing to say doesn't it, but it's so true and sometimes we can be distracted from this. I know last year I was. I was too occupied with rewrites to write anything new and this was a mistake. I dried up and didn't move forward.

I was also reminded that on the first draft it is important to get the pages down, to get it written. Then you need at least a month away from it before you look at it again. Then is the time to start sifting the good from the bad.

My problem is I like to write quality all the time, and I often find myself going back over what I've written several times even before the script is half written. It's a habit I'm going to have to kick if I want to write more new work this year.

Thanks for taking that journey with me.