How do you write a book? One word at a time. The reality is, there’s no one correct way to write. Every writer has their own approach, their own habits, their own tricks to get the ideas flowing or to combat writer’s block. But the one thing pretty much everyone can agree upon is that you need to sit down and do it. Staring into space may be great for idea generation, but it won’t actually get the book written. Research can be helpful, both to inspire story twists and to flesh out details, but spend enough time researching and you’ll never write the book.

So on this eighth day of the December Writing Challenge, I’d like to leave you with this thought. There are many tasks involved in writing a book, including dreaming up the plot, researching the ins and outs of your setting and characters, and perhaps dusting off your keyboard before you start to type. But you don’t need to know every moment of your story to start writing. You can (and should) research many details after you have an initial draft. And cleaning up your workspace beyond gaining access to your computer and your chair can be done once you’ve put in your time for the day.

Writerly procrastination is still procrastination. Go write.