This is the most important single piece of advice I can give you on writing.

The secret to writing perfectly fist time is this: you can’t. 

Not only is it impossible to write perfectly first time, it’s better if you don’t try to.

If anyone tells you they can write perfectly first time or even claim that’s it’s possible to do so, we’ll they’re either an idiot or a lunatic and you can safely ignore everything else they have to say on any subject.

Listen, not even Shakespeare could write perfectly first time. The bard’s most famous speech from the play Hamlet, ‘To be or not to be’, was originally ‘To do or not to to do.’

And if the genius of the English stage can’t write perfectly first time there’s no point me, you or anyone else trying to. It’s a fool’s game.

As I said in my last post, it’s more important to write something, write anything! Than it is to write nothing at all.

After all, you can’t edit what isn’t written, and I’ll explain the secrets of editing in another post.

After I’d posted my last err, post, my other half gently pointed out my typos and grammatical errors (it’s important to remember everyone’s a critic – if you want to be a writer you better get used to it).

This is ok, she was being nice, but I haven’t gone back and corrected those mistakes, and for two reasons.

1 I didn’t write them to be perfect. Perfection is overrated, we should strive to be better than we were yesterday. As a writer you’ll always be critical of your work and never be satisfied with it. Besides, editing is just as important a writing.

2 I’d given myself a deadline (always give yourself a deadline) and wanted to finish the post so I could work on my gamebook Game of Runes, as I’ve given myself a deadline to publish by next weekend.

This post is almost certainly full of typos as well, but that’s ok, I’m on a deadline as I have to meet with my author Hugh who’s medieval futuristic adventure gamebook I’m going to publish.

Long story short: give yourself a deadline and hitting the deadline is more important than creating ‘perfect’ work. There’s no such beast as perfect.

Games of Runes is my upcoming fantasy adventure gamebook, it’s based on my online game of the same name. The game is free to play on your desktop, laptop or tablet, and features original art, a unique combat system and the occasional terrible pun.

Game of Runes is free to play on your desktop, laptop or tablet, and features original art, a unique combat system and the occasional terrible pun.

NO fee, NO registration! Just click to play!

Nemo’s Fury is my co-written gamebook, available exclusively from Amazon. Join the mysterious Captain Nemo on board his remarkable submarine the Nautlius and experience a wild voyage of monsters, mayhem and murder!

You can order your copy of the book with this button: