I’m in the final sprint to finish the first draft of my book in the next four weeks which means I’m ignoring pretty much everything else. Except Twitter.

I’ve struggled all day, every day to ignore Twitter since I started writing this book back in October. I’ve failed on that pretty much every day. Though, I have reduced my addiction to my carefully curated information hose. I wonder how much more quality procrastination writers had before Twitter.

Sometimes though Twitter comes through and delivers something so helpful and timely that I’m reminded for all the reasons I love this site over any other.

Behold the best advice on writing ever:

Just know that everyone’s writing is terrible. Until it’s not. No one’s stuff is right immediately. You gotta work it. Refine it. Shape it. Spend time with it. It’s a relationship. Between you and what comes from you. Not easy. Gonna be terrible before it’s not. And that’s okay. https://t.co/V434nuMeul

— Ava DuVernay (@ava) August 5, 2018

I’ve had three mantras to get me through the first draft:

finished not perfect

the purpose of the first draft is for it to exist

let the editor sort this out

Those mantras help me with the writing process. They keep me moving forward.

But Ava’s advice validated all the feels that happen when you see your raw, messy thoughts masquerading as a future book.

I screenshotted her tweet and read it every day right now as I push towards the finish.

Share it with anyone you know who writes.