In a conversation for the podcast, I was reminded that we all have different approaches to our work. So, I always want to remind you that when another writer shares, it’s solely about information and your work is choosing what to apply and what to throw away. I’m immensely grateful for all the data points I’ve gathered on writing, and more importantly, how to be a good writer. But ultimately, it’s all about what works for me.

With that being said, we’ve reached the end of the two-week sprint of 1000 words of summer. What I don’t want you to do is judge yourself harshly. For instance, I didn’t really kick into gear until about halfway through. I had ambitions of writing while I was traveling, but circumstances didn’t make that a reality, like trying to type while your husband is still sleeping in a hotel room. But I jumped in when I got back home and kept it pushing. If only we can take some of the judgment out of our process, I think we’d be super successful.

I hope to keep pushing myself with the 1000 words a day all month. I found that it was a perfect goal that felt both substantial, and also achievable. I have a bunch of words here now to really start molding into an actual story. It’s been a good exercise in being more flexible in my writing process. I'm writing the most random scenes and following the inspiration as it comes to me. It has also highlighted what drafting is supposed to be all about, simply getting words on the page.

I often ask writers if they think that you can draft and edit at the same time, and along the lines of “the process is different for everyone,” I get different answers depending on the person. But I want to tell you why, not editing while I draft is helpful to me.

I won’t self-diagnose here, but when I tell you that I relate to about 98.78% of the symptoms of people with ADHD, it’s uncanny. In addition to the fact that other people in the family have been diagnosed, but I digress. The reason I mention this is because my brain moves extremely fast. I am literally Dr. Strange in that scene evaluating all the possible outcomes on a daily basis. This fact makes it so that I cannot get caught up in trying to make the language pretty at the same time I’m simply trying to figure the story out.

We’ve talked a bit about how the first draft is literally telling the story to yourself. Sure, I may be bougie about some things, but I don’t need all the expansive language to understand the story for myself. That’s for the people reading, and we have a long time before anyone else gets eyes on the work. This makes it so that drafting can be as bare bones as it needs to be for me to figure out what the hell is happening here?

That process can look a little troubling to the outside world. I’ll add tags that say things like [they have an exchange here] as I’m trudging through that first draft. The way my brain is set up, I can’t get stuck there. If it’s not coming to me freely, I have to keep moving to keep up with my brain. I have to keep moving before I start thinking about the laundry I forgot to put in the dryer, the dishes I left in the sink, and whether this new business idea I have is actually feasible. You get the point. There are so many tabs constantly open in my head, it’s scary, so to keep myself focused, I have to draft with minimal editing. When I’m drafting, I’ll likely read what I wrote the day before, just to get into the rhythm of the story, but I keep going after that without thinking too much about what I wrote further in the past.

They’ll be time to make it all make sense. A pattern for my process has been that I like to write as far as I can go until I get a little stuck on plot. Then I take the time to start outlining. I think this time around, I’ll simply write a synopsis because that’s what keeps you honest, and sometimes you’ll need one anyway once you finish, whether for your agent or when pitching to publishers. After that, I get back into the revision of it all, and make the work start to sing.

Maybe you’re not like me. Maybe you have this wonderful, focused mind that doesn’t bounce all around while you write and that is amazing. My hope for the rest of us is that you don’t hinder your process by thinking it’s all supposed to come out perfectly the first time. I literally have chapters that are like 800 words because I know I’ll go back and fill in the rest later. We can give these challenges all kinds of names, NaNoWriMo, 1000 Words of Summer, etc., but the concept is the same. How can you get out of your head a bit, which I know sounds like the silliest statement for writers, and into the work of it. The work of simply exploring your ideas on the page.

Right now, I’m writing some type of complex romance where I think people will possibly hate both characters.Ha! But I’m roaming around the page. I’m formulating their relationship. I know they’re in love for a point in the book, but I have to go back and fill that in. Fill in the moments that they fall for one another. Take the reader on the journey alongside them. Ensure that the reader understands why this is happening for them both, their interiors that have led them to this external situation. And that’s the fun part, the revision. The drafting is the off the rack suit or gown. Revision is the tailor. But you need some fabric to work with in the first place, you know?

If you were participating in 1000 Words of Summer, I don’t know how it went for you, but I hope you enjoyed the process. It’s art and creativity after all, that should be fun. If you can, keep the passion and the dedication going past these two weeks. It doesn’t have to be on any type of regimen but simply a commitment of your own to your art. I’m thrilled to see what comes out on the other side of it.

Paulina Isaac is looking for pitches about reported TikTok trends, viral food movements people won’t stop talking about, and recipes that are blowing up on social media for The Kitchn. Rates start at $250. Pitch her at paulina@thekitchn.com.

Frontier Poetry is open for submissions. In their pursuit to celebrate the outstanding poets of our present times, Frontier Poetry annually hosts a prize for all poets, regardless of publication history. Send your best work to the Frontier OPEN, their biggest prize of the year! The winning poem will be awarded $5,000 and publication. (June 30)

UCLA is hiring a Creative Writing Instructor, General $73/instructional hour. 10-week course = 30 instructional hours.

Lambda Literary is hiring a Part-Time Program Coordinator ($20/hr).