The Writing Life
While I believe in deadlines and writing regularly, I know that some writing is better done immediately while other is better done later. The latter is the moment “recollected in tranquility.” The former is in the moment and may or may not be emotionally charged.
Before you throw a tizzy fit, please listen: you are not going to become a better writer simply by continuing to write. It just isn’t going to happen. It’s like hoping you’re going to be chosen for the all-star basketball team even though your aim is all wrong and you refuse to listen to the coaches and other players who could help you improve your game. If you don’t listen to those people, it doesn’t matter how many times you shoot the basketball. You’re never going to make more than a few baskets.
[Read more…] about How to Become a Better Writer: Quit Writing
Some words aren’t ready to be published once they’re set on the page. They’re half-cocked, half-baked, half-***ed. They need a bit more sun, a little water, and a lot of weeding before they’re ready to be shared with the world.
When you set out on a journey from there to here, you find yourself beset with obstacles. Those obstacles may be external – a terrible job or no job, for instance – but, more often than not, they are internal. They are found as you encounter various difficulties and find yourself discouraged, disconsolate, lost.
The first word is hard. The second one is a little easier. The third? The third should be even easier, which is why I say to write it. Don’t worry about the first word too much. Just start. Let yourself reach the third word, then the fourth and fifth. Don’t spend a lot of time obsessing over the words. Just get them on the paper.
People get work for three reasons or, at least, two out of three reasons: their work is good; they’re easy to get along with; and they deliver the work on time. – Neil Gaiman, “Make Good Art”