Zero Draft

Writer's block. Who needs it? Not you, I bet. Writer's block comes from thinking too hard, putting on too much pressure to be perfect now. You stare at the blank page/screen and no ideas come. You write something down. It sucks. You get stuck. You figure you're better off playing Halo or baking brownies.

But what if you actually want to write and not just get carpal tunnel and cavities? The zero draft comes to the rescue. What's that? Weather stripping? Well, yes, but, I'm talking about writing, not home improvement. Stay with me here.

The zero draft, also known as the shitty first draft, is a jedi mind trick. A way of tricking yourself into writing by lowering the stakes. You're not really writing a first draft, or even a real draft. You're just writing a zero draft. It doesn't have to be any good. In fact, it's even better if totally sucks. You can write the first draft later. The zero draft is like a scrimmage, or a pre-season game. You're going to rest your starters and see what Curtis Painter can do. Who cares if you win?

Just write. Get it down. See where it leads. Don't look back. The key is to give yourself time. Write for an hour straight. Or if you aren't up to that, write for a half hour. Chances are you won't really be keeping track of time anyway, once you get into it.