Over analyzing

Jackie's comment on Get distracted sparked the idea for this post. I loved the comment, because it made me laugh at myself. And it made me realize how important my ridiculousness is...to me.
Guess what everybody??? I over analyze. I over analyze everything. All the time. Call me self-depricating, self-loathing, self-loving, or self-involved. But over analyzing is what I do. And I gotta do it.

BUT only for what I did. Never for what I'm doing.

Blah blah blah. That even confuses me. How to break this down? Lets look at the key elements of writing. They are PERMISSION, ANALYSIS, and FORGIVENESS.

The first step to writing something is to give yourself permission. Let go. Don't worry about it. Let it just come out of you. This is what many people say is the fun part. But its also the scary part. The most vulnerable part. What is going to come up? Is some personal issue that you're not ready to look at going to surface as some new character or event? Are you even capable of letting go and not worrying about what comes out? This is component of writing is all about trust.

Here comes the icky part. Analysis. This is just as necessary as giving yourself permission, but of course it has to come later. You can't start analyzing what you've done until you do it. Seriously. Finish that first draft. The whole thing! Before you pick up that red pen. Once your done, have at it. Tear it to shreds. That's how you find the real story. Question everything the characters do. Discover what the most important plot lines are and the themes present in the story. You still have to love what you did, though.

This brings us to forgiveness. Forgive yourself for any mistakes you made, recognize that its all part of the process. Love the process. Accept the process. Be ready to move on. Its not about trying to be perfect, or not making mistakes, or not falling off the horse. Its about getting back up. So GET BACK UP.