It seems like more than eight weeks have gone by in the year. February alone, for me, seems like it’s been at least eight weeks. It’s the shortest month! But we are in the eighth week of the Marketing for Romance Writers 52-Week Blog Challenge Blog Hop. Our #MFRWauthor topic this week is:
Worst Writing Advice I’ve Gotten.
I modified the topic a little to suit my need.
Week 8: Worst Bad Writing Advice (for me)
Who am I to say this is bad advice? It’s advice that doesn’t work for me. I’m NOT saying it’s bad advice for others. Or that it’s bad advice at all. We all have to write our own way. My way isn’t your way. My process can’t be compared to your process.
What’s the advice or rule I’m talking about?
“Don’t edit as you go.”
This process works for other authors and some participants in NaNoWriMo. Me? I have to edit as I go. I have to. It kills me not to go back and rewrite. I can’t tell you how often I rewrite, rewrite, rewrite my beginning. This is how I write. I go back to edit. When I say I edit as I go, it isn’t like I type a paragraph and have to go back to edit it unless the BRAT nudges.
I’ll do this when I’m finished writing for the day or if I need a break to think something through before continuing. Sometimes, I wait until the next day or next writing session. Of course, it takes longer to finish a draft this way, but it makes the revisions much easier.
If I’m away from a manuscript, like a have been with my current WIP while revising one of my other books, I’ll go back to the beginning to reread and rewrite as I get familiar with the story again.
Writing without editing as you go works for many, many authors. There’s nothing wrong with the process, for them. At times I wish I could sit down and write a draft this way, but if I try, I am fighting with myself. There’s a little BRAT sitting on my shoulder poking at me, whispering in my ear that I missed a word back there, or I needed to fix something, and it won’t let up. It’s as simple as:
This process doesn’t work for me.
My bad advice isn’t your bad advice. Do what works for you.
We’re at Week Eight in the Blog Hop. Let’s click HERE to read what other authors have to say.
Thanks for your visit today. Enjoy your weekend.
Thank you, Pixabay, for the images.
Mary J. McCoy-Dressel 
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