Okay, I’m 5 days into this class. It, the Fast Draft portion, ends next week. I’m not one to normally be negative or at least I try not to be. But this class just isn’t working for me. The only reason I’ve increased my word count at all is because I’m forcing myself to take more time than I normally give myself. That’s not Fast Drafting. That’s More Time Drafting. Pfft. Clearly, the class IS working for most of the people. Does that mean I’m defective? Of course not.

We each have our own stumbling blocks. Mine is clearly my inner-editor and lack of time. Time we can only control so much. Sometimes I can squeeze more time in and sometimes I can’t. That’s life for you. But the inner-editor? That’s all me. There are others who struggle with the “IE” as much as I do. Some have this magic switch to turn him or her off but I don’t appear to have that switch. Or if I do, it’s welded in the ON position and no blowtorch can cut through it.

I thought we’d get more than basic tips and a crack of the whip out of this class. But Candace Havens’ Fast Draft class is just a smaller paid version of NaNoWriMo and she’s the ML (municipal liaison, aka the leader). When we ask for help, she answers questions. But when it comes to IE trouble her advice is ALWAYS to read over her class notes again, shut up, stop over thinking it and just write. I need something more than a canned response but that isn’t happening this century.

I can’t write crap for the sake of writing crap. I just can’t. I REFUSE. I really am glad people can turn off their inner-editor and let the crap fly but I just can’t do it. No matter how hard I try I’m just not wired that way. Call it OCD. Call it stubborn. Call it whatever you want to. But for me this class was a waste of $20. There are tons of others who feel the complete opposite and that’s great- for them. Can you tell I’m frustrated? I really had high hopes for this class.

So what have I learned? In the end the only thing that matters is that you just sit down and write. It doesn’t matter how long it takes or how someone else does it, you just write. Stop reading all these writing how-to books. Stop taking all these classes that promise the moon or a draft. Just write the damn thing. Forget social media, blogging and building a platform (sorry Kristen Lamb). Just write the damn thing. That’s all that matters in the end.

UPDATE: Candy did write me back and provided some really helpful advice. I’m going to see if I can apply it. That’s the biggest challenge of them all. I guess as Jamie Hyneman says, “When in doubt, C4!”

I’m two days into class and it’s not what I thought it would be. To be honest I’ve got mixed emotions about it. We’ve been given a set of rules and steps to encourage our inner-editor to “take a hike” and helpful hints in case our writing runs aground while we’re going at full speed. And if that’s not working, Candice will delightfully crack the whip in your direction. For the 40 some students in her class, most are finding that more than sufficient to crank out an abnormally high page count. Many are in excess of 20+ pages a day.

BUT there are some of us, myself included, who just can’t get our internal-editor to let go. I’ve tried all the tips and had adhered to all the rules. I’ve come at this with an open mind but I can see it’s not producing the amount I thought it would. So far I’ve only been able to churn out 5 pages per day. Admittedly, this is more than double what I normally write but I was hoping to see at least 10 pages per day. I’m going to keep at it and stay positive, hoping that magic moment happens in which the words start flowing faster, but I’m a realist when it comes to things like that.