2. Creates momentum through daily victories (getting 250 words per day and celebrating that adds up, and reframes how you see yourself). If you edit as you write, it totally derails your book. The bully in your brain, the part of you that is ridiculously hard on yourself, will start to second-guess you and shame you and will, at best, slow you down—if not kill your motivation altogether. If you think something is terrible and you hate it, that’s fine. Use the “comment” function to highlight it and say, “This is your problem, Future Tucker,” and then move on. You’ll get to it later. I’m going to say this again: the vomit draft is for you. NO ONE but you will ever read it. Once you start editing (which I will explain how to do next), that is when you focus on what people will think. The part of yourself that wants to edit as you go—the perfectionist, the self-critical part—that is a great editor, but a terrible writer. Put it away until the vomit draft is done. FINDING YOUR VOICE For some reason, when it comes time to writing, lots of authors become obsessed with “finding their voice.” I’ll often tease authors and ask them things like, “Hey, did you look behind your sofa? Your voice might be there.” The joke is silly, but the point is right—you don’t “find” your voice outside of yourself. Your voice is already a part of who you are. Your job as an author is to get out of the way and let it out. The second thing authors do wrong is trying to mimic a voice. You can’t be Malcolm Gladwell, you can only be you, so don’t try to be. 142 · ThE SCriBE METhOD