Obsessing

I don't think I'm unique in this problem. At least, I hope I'm not.


But one of the things that I have to be reminded of over, and over, and over is not to edit as you write.


It seems like a simple concept. And I thought so as well. I would simply type out the words as they came to me and move on. Easy enough.


But oh, wait . . . I just misspelled a word.


I forgot to italicize something.


Crap, there's the main character's name without the end letter.


And, you know, while I'm at it, I didn't quite like the way this phrase sounded back on the other page.

The paragraph after that seems to be a little long. Maybe I should take some stuff out.


OH! I can add the extra to this part.


See how easy it is for me to wind up reworking the entire piece I've just written? It happens all the time. I obsess about what I can see on the screen in front of me, and it keeps me from working efficiently and effectively.


Not surprisingly, I hardly get anything done on the days I'm like that. And what I do finish usually gets revised again later anyway (I did say I was a perfectionist, didn't I?).


The most helpful piece of advice I've gotten lately was from an author at the conference. She said to turn off the spell/grammar check just while you're writing. That way the little red and green squiggles won't distract you. You can always turn it back on again later, and you won't waste valuable time.


So, kind of skeptical, I tried it. The first day I wrote 2,000 words (about average for me). The next day, I one upped the offed spell check. I zoomed in on Word until I could only see one or two words as I typed (I think it was zoom to 500% if anyone wants to try it).


How many did I get that day, you may ask . . .


15,000.


It may all be garbage by the time I get back to it, but hey, "the only thing you can't edit is a blank page."