Whatever I write may not be any good, but that doesn’t matter. When you’re writing a first draft—which most of you are doing this month—the most important thing is to keep moving forward. Your first try will be riddled with mistakes, but that’s what revision is for. Right now, you only have to put those ugly, wrong words on the page so you can fix them later.

So, inspiration isn’t what gets your book written. Discipline is. However, inspiration does sometimes pop by for an unexpected visit. Picture this:

You’re sitting there with the internet off. You’re writing some horrible words, thinking this is surely the most miserable dreck ever typed into Scrivener. Suddenly, something you wrote will seem to leap out at you, as if the words themselves came to life and shouted at you to pay attention. You’ll look at that sentence you wrote and think, Oh. Wow. Is that what this scene is about?

Malinda Lo–National Novel Writing Month

Oh my fucking yes. This. This is it. This.

Thou shalt not just think about writing. Seriously. That is not writing. The worst unpublished novel of all-time is better than the brilliant idea you have in your head. Why? Because the worst novel ever is written down. That means it’s a book, while your idea is just an idle fancy. My dog used to dream about chasing rabbits; she didn’t write a novel about chasing rabbits. There is a difference.

Patrick Rothfuss–National Novel Writing Month

Writer’s block is hardly ever a symptom of having nothing to say. It’s usually just your dumb lizard brain beating yourself up because you’re afraid of (in this order, at least for me):

1. Discomfort/ boredom
2. Not knowing exactly what it is you want to say yet
3. Failure

If you can push through the squirminess and clock the hours at the computer like you’re doing brain cardio, puking out whatever it is you MIGHT want to say in a fixed period of time, you’ll be OK. Because once you get ANYTHING on the page, you’ll be able to return to it later and make it better. If you leave and you have nothing, you’re not being very nice to your present OR future self.

The good news is that, even if you’re judging yourself while you barf out that crappy rough draft, what you write is usually not as bad as you think it is! Just make sure you sit on it for a little bit of time before returning to it and editing the shit out of it. It’s always easier to shape something from something than to make something from nothing. So try as hard as you can to blurt something out, even for 10 minutes, and know that once you’re done, the hardest part is behind you.

Writer’s block isn’t magically ordained, or sent down as a decree from God or whatever. It’s not external—you’re the only one doing the blocking! So please try to be gentle to yourself. Being hard on yourself is the #1 cause of misery and wasted time and keeping yourself back. I’ve never heard of anybody who’s bullied themselves into being more prolific or successful.

Give yourself the gift of letting yourself put something down that isn’t perfect. You will return to it later and make it wonderful.

Julie Klausner–Rookie » Getting Unstuck

Wow, okay, every single word of this is true for me, down to the lizard brain and fear of discomfort/boredom.

This is immensely helpful. If she can do it, I can do it.

I deal with writer’s block by lowering my expectations. I think the trouble starts when you sit down to write and imagine that you will achieve something magical and magnificent—and when you don’t, panic sets in. The solution is never to sit down and imagine that you will achieve something magical and magnificent. I write a little bit, almost every day, and if it results in two or three or (on a good day) four good paragraphs, I consider myself a lucky man. Never try to be the hare. All hail the tortoise.

Malcolm Gladwell on overcoming writer’s block – a fine addition to our ongoing archive of advice on writing. And wisdom from more famous artists, writers, and designer. 

(↬ Longreads)

[gallifrey-feels]

Fanfic authors: READ THE WHOLE FUCKING PAGE

[cthonical]

THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT AND VALUABLE LESSONS YOU CAN LEARN AS A WRITER. I SAY THIS AS A READER AND A PROFESSIONAL GENRE EDITOR.

There is no rule on how to write. Sometimes it comes easily and perfectly; sometimes it’s like drilling rock and then blasting it out with charges.

Ernest Hemingway (via the-writing-cafe)

[thedoctorheretohelp]

it doesn’t matter how intelligent and witty and knowledgeable you are if you don’t do anything with it

like sure okay you could probably write a better book than me that’s great that’s fine i’m proud of you

but i sat down and wrote a book in a month and even if it’s shit at least i did something

and you can know seven thousand digits of pi and i won’t be impressed until you get off your ass and do something with the information you have

because seriously it takes a whole different kind of knowledge to actually do something with what you have and what you know

just knowing it isn’t enough

and you know what? you might not be capable of doing anything more than that

and until you prove that you can actually put in the commitment, that you can take that super science math brain of yours and apply it to actually, you know, doing your work? i’m not going to respect your abilities

because you lack the ability to apply that and that ability is not something to be underestimated or overlooked and it takes a serious amount of effort and skill

The Four Essential Stages of Writing

[writeworld]

by Ali

In last week’s post, 7 Habits of Serious Writers, I mentioned the importance of actually writing, plus the need to redraft. I thought it’d be worth putting those stages into context – because they’re not all you need for an effective piece.

Every finished piece of writing passes through four stages:

• Planning
• Drafting
• Redrafting
• Editing

Sure, you can publish a blog post without doing any planning, or any rewriting and editing. Unless you’re very lucky, though (or writing something extremely short), you’ll be lacking a clear focus, the structure won’t quite work, and there’ll be clumsy sentences all over the place.

I wouldn’t call that “finished”, myself. I’d call it a draft.

Read More

[tinsnip]

How funny. For me, writing is agony, and editing is joy. What’s up with that?

terribleminds.com

25 Things Every Writer Should Know « terribleminds: chuck wendig

8. Writing Feels Like — But Isn’t — Magic

Yours is the power of gods: you say, “let there be light,” and Sweet Maggie McGillicutty, here comes some light. Writing is the act of creation. Put words on page. Words to sentences, sentences to paragraphs, paragraphs to 7-book epic fantasy cycles with books so heavy you could choke a hippo. But don’t give writing too much power, either. A wizard controls his magic; it doesn’t control him. Push aside lofty notions and embrace the workmanlike aesthetic. Hammers above magic wands; nails above eye-of-newt. The magic will return when you’re done. The magic is in what you did, not in what you’re doing.

Oh, my heavens, yes, this. I will remember this on the days it feels, as Stephen King says, that I’m shovelling shit from a sitting position.

terribleminds.com

25 Things You Should Know About Writing A Novel

Say it five times fast: momentum-momentum-momentum-momentum-momentum. Actually, don’t say it five times fast. I just tried and burst a blood vessel on the inside of my sinuses. The point remains: writing a novel is about gaining steam, about acceleration, about momentum. You lose it every time you stop to revise a scene in the middle, to look up a word, to ponder or change the plot. It’s like a long road-trip: don’t stop for hitchhikers, don’t stop to piss, don’t stop for a Arby’s Big Beef and Cheddar. Just drive. Leave notes in your draft. Highlight empty spaces. Fill text with XXX and know you’ll come back later.

Hmm.

I may have to try this.

I nitpick the living hell out of everything I write. I revise while I write. I look for le mot juste.

It might be freeing to try something else, especially while my OC is stuck freefalling down the cliff and I’m trying to figure out what to do with him next…