Overwrite First

Beginning writers often ask: How much should I write? In other words, if you have a 1,000 word writing assignment, should you stop at 1,000 words and just work with editing that? The answer is no. You should write much more than 1,000 words. You should write everything you can write to fulfill the assignment, even if it takes you 3,000 words to say it. After you have exhausted all your thoughts on the subject, then your task is to cull from it the 1,000 words you need. It is better to overwrite than to underwrite. It is easier to reduce 3,000 words than it is to expand 500 words. Writing until your thoughts are exhausted means you have not overlooked any possibilities for inclusion in your final draft. Your overwritten first draft will have many duplications and tangential information that can be eliminated. When you have an overwritten draft, you can select the best of your writing and scratch the rest. That way, only the best of your thinking and writing makes it into the final draft. Overwriting also allows you to free-associate and follow all your thought impulses. This leads to richer detail and greater flow in your writing than if you arbitrarily cut it short because you reached your word limit. It is always best to keep your mind working on an idea until it has emptied itself. Then you can begin the editing process that results in your finest, most polished work.