When I write the chapters of a story that I am working on, I would not turn off the editing for the first draft. So, the story is very wonky in terms of everything is off and lacks sense. I use Google Docs for my drafts and writing overall, but I never turn off the editing and just focus on the writing.
Why I don’t do that is because the moment I do and later notice errors and that freaks me out! I start to bitch and moan on how I didn’t notice it sooner WHILE I AM WRITING THE FIRST DRAFT MIND YOU and feel SUPER defeated.
If I didn’t see the wrongs then and is seeing them now, I get fucking pissed because I need to be at this level of perfection as a writer, who is writing a rough draft and the first one.
Yet if I leave it alone and keep the editing feature on Google Docs, then I find myself correcting my mistakes and throwing the whole story off entirely.
My brain doesn’t like to challenge itself that much! I hate that about myself.
I truly want to edit and love to be fun yet serious about this book! I CANNOT DO THAT IF I KEEP EDITING THE FIRST DRAFT AS I AM WRITING THE FIRST DRAFT!!!
Yup, this is one of those things like Enna says in her videos: the same advice doesn’t work for everyone. So you need to know the reason behind the advice. Everyone tells you “Don’t edit until you’re done with the first draft!” which is great advice for any writer who’d find it hard to finish the draft if they did that.
But I have to edit as I go along or the editing would be so overwhelming and such a drudge at the end that I wouldn’t be able to reread the manuscript once it was done, and I’d just toss it in a drawer and move on to something new.
I’ve never written in Google docs before, so I have no idea how it works. Is there any way to turn off whatever it is so it doesn’t bother you anymore? Or maybe you could write in another program, like Written Kitten or Frost?
you could try one of those apps that hides what you’ve written while you’re typing. Or write each chapter in its own document so you can’t fall into the trap of scrolling up to reread stuff.
Because I am so used to using Google Docs over anything else, I’ll just have to make do with it and just FORCE myself to stop correcting errors. Which will feel IMPOSSIBLE because I hate forcing myself to do something extra.
There are no perfect writers, even those greats like Tolkien. Marin and dare I say it… Heitz (piss poor fantasy writer who blatantly rips off Tolkien)…
Everyone who writes, does edits. Their first drafts are full of mistakes (spellings and other)…
It’s nothing to fear, nothing at all, and you should not get stressed about it either… Just go with the Time Needed to Edit Program and put aside some time to do so… You will mot regret it…
I spend so much time with edits, and I feel that it has made me a better chapter builder, world builder and writer overall…
I’ve gotten better in not correcting every little mistake I find in Google Docs while writing
It’s not too much of a challenge, just needs to remember to do so.
I think it’s an ADHD thing. Perfectionism! I’m the same way. There’s no such thing as me writing with zero editing. Doesn’t exist. Stresses me the f* out. I wish I was more helpful there lol maybe “compromise” with yourself? Like okay, I’ll write at least this many words (some number you come up with) before I edit them?
There’s no such thing as me writing with zero editing. Doesn’t exist. Stresses me the f* out. 
I wish I was more helpful there lol maybe “compromise” with yourself? Like okay, I’ll write at least this many words (some number you come up with) before I edit them?