You Can’t Edit a Blank Page

Give yourself permission to write a terrible first draft

Wake Up and Write is a regular advice column from Moms Don’t Have Time to Write. Today, we have Hannah Mary McKinnon— international bestselling author of You Will Remember Me — who shared writing advice on the podcast Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books, hosted by Zibby Owens.

“I would say: give yourself permission to write a rubbish first draft.”

“This is not a draft that you’re going to give to anyone. This really is just for you telling yourself the story. Write a skeleton draft. Then layer it and edit it. You can edit a page with words on it. You cannot edit a blank page.

That was something that I didn’t understand at the beginning. When someone said, give yourself permission to write a rubbish first draft, I thought, ‘But why would I do that if someone’s going to see it?’ Well, they’re not going to because you’re going to edit it.

The other piece of advice that was enlightening for me was when somebody said, ‘If you don’t know what happens in the scene or the chapter that you’re writing, skip ahead.’ What you write two, three chapters down the line might then unlock whatever’s been blocked for the chapter that you’ve been struggling with. That was quite enlightening for me.

‘Skip it, really?’ It works.”

Listen to the episode:

https://zibbyowens.com/transcript/hannah-mary-mckinnon-you-will-remember-me

Buy the book:

https://bookshop.org/books/you-will-remember-me-9780778331810/9780778331810