Before you can set a date for what I called “D-day” in the last post, we have to talk about what we could think of as the first rule of successful writing.
It’s simple. Easy to remember.
And really hard to observe.
The first rule of successful writing is that you never hand in the first draft.
No matter how perfect you think your first draft is. No matter how much it cost you in blood, sweat, tears, lost sleep, and caffeine consumption. You never hand in the first draft.
Finishing a first draft takes a lot of time and effort. When most people reach that goal, the last thing they want to do is turn around and revise that draft.
And in fact some writers turn their first drafts over to professional editors. But not everyone can do that.
So what do you do? It’s time for D-day.