It seems like the most basic piece of advice for a writer, but I think it’s the one a lot of us have the most trouble with. Artists tend to be perfectionists, and if something doesn’t come out exactly the way we want it to right from the beginning, we tend to get discouraged. I myself have erased entire drafts of stories and started from scratch just because I didn’t think my writing was good enough.
But really, that’s the point. At least, for the first draft. It’s supposed to be bad—it’s you telling the story to yourself. It’s the foundation you set before you start picking at it and saying, This shouldn’t be there; Where did this come from? That’s good. That can go. The trick is to write without thinking; let the thoughts just flow from your mind and out through your fingers (if you’re typing; pen, if you’re writing by hand. … Mouth, if you record yourself narrating. There are lots of ways to tell a story!) Do yourself a favor, and get it through your head right now: WRITE NOW; EDIT LATER. You can always change something that doesn’t work. But first there has to be something there to be fixed.