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You need to put on the ‘Crappy Writer’ and then the ‘Fancy Writer’ hat to deliver your writing, but not at the same time!
I recently finished Jessica Brody’s course on writer’s block, in which she teaches us the importance of wearing 2 hats during the writing process.
I don’t know about you, but as a non-native English writer, I often struggle with self-doubt about the quality of my writing and want to not only finish my article within a certain timeframe but also create a valuable and exceptional piece.
Jessica says that writing involves 2 distinctive roles — the Drafter and the Reviser.
The desire to reduce my article writing time from 5–6 hours to half had been on my mind for a long time. As a result of applying the lessons she taught me to my writing, I can write a piece in a maximum of 3 hours.
I wanted to write so well in the past that it inhibited me from completing an article. There was a time when it took weeks to write a piece because I was going back and forth to the same sentence during my draft phase. I couldn’t let a sentence go without perfecting it.
It took so much time!
I spent hours only on the introduction. No wonder why I couldn’t publish more often.
In product development, we always say, ‘Let’s ship it!’ in other words:
Done is better than perfect!
We can easily apply this sentiment to writing.
Now, in October 2023, I challenged myself to submit an article every day. So far, I kept up with my self-imposed goal. Here’s how.
There’s no other role of a drafter than to create a preliminary version of an article or chapter in a book.
You have a couple of main responsibilities when you wear the Drafter hat.
During this phase, you’re not responsible for
The output of the Drafter?
An ugly & messy draft. And that’s how it should be.
After the draft is complete, you put the Reviser hat on and are ready to refine and beautify the article or chapter.
Jessica uses the analogy of the house.
Think about it as the Drafter builds the house; the Reviser decorates it.
It’s important not to revise an unfinished draft because we can’t enhance an article that doesn’t exist yet.
Merging the roles leads to stagnation.
Many writers attempt to perfect while they draft, causing unnecessary stalls and stress. I was part of this group until recently, when I changed my approach.
The key is to embrace the ‘Crappy Writer’ hat, focus solely on progress, and ignore quality.
Don’t be distracted by word choices, punctuation, or sentence fragments. That’s the problem for the ‘Fancy Writer,’ not the ‘Crappy Writer.’ The ‘Fancy Writer’ will elevate your work; trust that!
I took this advice seriously because Jessica Brody has published over 20 books in her career, so I believe she can be trusted.
We don’t find many writers consistent enough to be worth copying.
I only take advice from people who actually do the work. You shouldn’t take my advice; you should take Jessica’s advice.
There might be another approach that I haven’t tried yet, but I did try many, and this is the only one that works for me so far, so I keep running with it because it’s been transformational to my writing journey, like nothing else.
Happy drafting and revising!