The Perfect Writing Process

I've told several people this over the last few days, and they've reacted as if they've been given the secrets of the universe, so I thought I'd do a blog post on it. It's very simple:

There are no extra marks given for your writing process, all that matters is the finished product.

You can write 2000 words every day, including birthdays and Christmas.

You can write in splurges, 10,000 words this weekend, but nothing until next month.

You can write one perfect sentence at a time.

You can write mad and messy drafts which make no sense.

You can write two drafts to get to the finished product. Or twenty two.

You can write in an office.

You can write in bed.

You can write on a laptop.

You can write by hand.

You can write reclining on a chaise longue dictating your masterpiece to an amanuensis while drinking champagne and eating chocolates.

None of it makes any difference to whether the final work is something someone else might want to read. It really doesn't matter how you get there. The perfect writing process is the one that's perfect for you.