Don't look back until you've written an entire draft, just begin each day from the last sentence you wrote the preceding day. This prevents those cringing feelings, and means that you have a substantial body of work before you get down to the real work which is all in. .. the edit.", The Guardian, 20 February 2010] Will Self
About This Quote

First of all, it is important to remember that your work should not be based on the idea that you are not good enough. The true work is actually in the editing stage. Another way to look at this quote is that you should not expect to get any further until you have written an entire draft. You will not get anywhere if you are constantly re-writing parts of your work.

With this method, you are able to get a good grasp of the entire timeline of your novel. As you write each part, you can see how it fits into the larger story and how it could possibly connect to other parts in your novel.

Some Similar Quotes
  1. This is what love does: It makes you want to rewrite the world. It makes you want to choose the characters, build the scenery, guide the plot. The person you love sits across from you, and you want to do everything in your power to... - David Levithan
  2. Some moments are nice, some arenicer, some are even worthwritingabout. - Charles Bukowski
  3. Living with him is like being told a perpetual story: his mind is the biggest, most imaginative I have ever met. I could live in its growing countries forever. - Sylvia Plath
  4. There comes a time in your life when you have to choose to turn the page, write another book or simply close it. - Shannon L. Alder
  5. When you're missing a peice of yourself, aching, gut wrenching emptiness begins to take over. Until you find the link that completes your very soul, the feeling will never go away. Most people find a way to fill this void, material possessions, a string of... - Jennifer Salaiz
More Quotes By Will Self
  1. A creative life cannot be sustained by approval any more than it can be destroyed by criticism.
  2. Regard yourself as a small corporation of one. Take yourself off on team-building exercises (long walks). Hold a Christmas party every year at which you stand in the corner of your writing room, shouting very loudly to yourself while drinking a bottle of white wine....
  3. Don't look back until you've written an entire draft, just begin each day from the last sentence you wrote the preceding day. This prevents those cringing feelings, and means that you have a substantial body of work before you get down to the real work...
  4. You know that sickening feeling of inadequacy and over-exposure you feel when you look upon your own empurpled prose? Relax into the awareness that this ghastly sensation will never, ever leave you, no matter how successful and publicly lauded you become. It is intrinsic to...
  5. A funny yet interesting read, Will Self knowa his stuff and must do a lot of deep research.
Related Topics