Whenever someone sets out from scratch to become an author, they should understand the old saying that it takes 10,000 hours to master a skill. Nobody ever writes the perfect short story, the perfect poem, or the perfect novel on their first attempt.

This is why I am a firm believer in accepting from the start that the very early attempts are going to downright stink. I decided I wanted to write books very young and for years I struggled with getting stories, novels, anything past a few scenes with basic characters. Nothing I wanted to develop into a novel-length story evolved beyond 30 pages.

Then something wonderful happened. I read published books by big publishers that were downright awful. I won’t name authors or their publishers, but some of the books were so laughably bad, I realized writing was not about perfection, but production.

You write and write and write until you get a story that at least some people like. So, taking that to heart, I wrote a 87,000 word novel that stank to high heaven. I finished two drafts, set it in a desk, and for awhile, just let it fester.

Now, for a long time, I feared sharing this bad book would bring ridicule. But as the years have gone by, I take it out of it’s old accordion file in my old office filing cabinet and leaf through it, thoughtfully.

There are a lot of problems with the book, but there are good elements and funny scenes. It ia whacky and dumb, but still a fun read. And I marvel at how much I learned from that “drawer” novel.

So if you struggle, over-thinking every word of your book and lock up with a need to get it all perfect the first time, let that go. Just start at the beginning and set a daily goal 500-2000 words. If you skip a day, don’t beat yourself up. If you don’t hit the 500 word minimum, don’t sweat it. I guarantee you, the days you don’t write but just spend 20 minutes re-reading and think about your story are not wasted.