For those that don’t know, a zero draft is what I call my very base draft, the one that is so rough that it’s not good enough to be called a first draft. In many ways, it’s freeing to write a zero draft. It doesn’t have to be perfect. I can relax. It can be bad. In fact, it usually is bad. I never worry about it. I just move on.

I’ve gotten some people wondering about dealing with writer’s block. The fact of the matter is that I don’t get writer’s block. But only because i don’t worry about writing crap, complete utter shit. My zero draft is the worst writing in the history of writing. So when it comes out bad, I’m not worried about it. It’s definitely rubbish. But that’s what I’m going for, you know? The whole point is to get DONE.

The zero draft is exploration. It’s your time to sit down and hash out the bare bones. It might be bloated in spots, and thin in other spots. That’s okay. You can always fix it on the next round.

Keep going. Keep writing. Have fun.

Disclaimer: It might be that this advice doesn’t work for you and you keep getting stuck. Chances are you might be an outliner. There are lots of outlining blogs and tools out there. But I can’t give you any because I have no idea how to outline. However, I suspect that even if you outline, the above advice still applies.

Now go write!