I think I've had a mental block on this issue. An if-I-play-dumb-it-won't-notice-me mentality. But I read something this morning at Romance Divas forum:
I wrote my first novel over a period of a year and a half. And it will never see the light of day, that's for sure. Trust me, it was so stale, I had to keep rereading it so I'd know where I was going with it. And that led to wanting to edit the crap on it before I could move forward.
I wrote the first draft of my second novel over a 6 week period. MUCH better. Because it was written in such a short period of time, it was much more coherent, and I was still excited about it and didn't forget where I was going.
I will always draft fast now. Editing and revisions take a lot longer, but that's where the story will come alive. But when I draft slowly, I lose the magic.
For some reason, that totally got me. Squinting at my computer in wonder, I considered each manuscript I'd started. Certain Suspicions, finished in one month but needing so many edits it was a year [at least] before I started something longer than a prompt [500 words or less]. Of course, I didn't know anything about writing then.
Since I know so much now [insert sarcastic tone], I wonder if I could successfully combine a Fast Draft with that dose of knowledge [and not call it internal editing]. Because isn't that the point of a Fast Draft? To lose all that internal editing--the very voice in your head telling you not to move forward until you've fixed it?
I want to, so badly, do a quick writing exercise like that but I REALLY like that, although not perfect, my manuscripts have become more readable. I do spend time editing as I write. It's almost impossible for me not to, but my revisions seem surmountable at the end. Like Amanda stated, I can enjoy the revisions for the creative quality they lend, yet after several weeks, i'm not being driven crazy by the tedium of what seems to be common mistakes. I.E. using words like that, just, and almost, or words such as was, or even the dreaded tellings of heard, saw, felt...
The editing is more reasonable but certainly not nonexistent. I'll forever be removing unnecessary punctuation, adding description, or fixing typos--that's a big one, though. I can not, have never been able to get past a typo without going back and fixing it. I use the shift key to start a sentence and because my Word is screwy, i'm often tabbing my paragraph starts. I'm thinking I might be a lost cause.
I really can't imagine getting it done.
That's my goal. Now I just have to figure the rules. Make sure I'm not breaking any.
What is your motivation in a Fast Draft?
