When I was a kid, all I ever wanted to be was a writer. When I grew up, I convinced myself that it was a pipe dream and created more achievable goals. I went to college for years and changed my major 8 times. I had so many ideas for stories, books, screenplays, and I never even started one. I wrote for class. Often. If I compiled every essay, research paper, oral presentation, and writing assignment, I could create 2 full length, and boring novels. My diaries could make ten.
Why were the research papers easy, while the fiction was so hard? It's the same thing. Writing a blog, writing an essay, writing a novel. You give your audience what they want. Why is giving an analysis of the themes in Macbeth easier than telling a story? Answer: it isn't. It was all in my head.
When I wanted to write fiction I would sit at my computer and NOT write. I would judge every line. I couldn't get through an entire paragraph without needing to reread the entire thing and pronounce myself useless. I expected perfection without experience.
I have learned a little in the past month. It doesn't need to be perfect, it just needs to get done. It's okay if my first draft is complete garbage because every edit will be better than the one before. You have to mine a lot of dirt to get diamonds. Giving myself permission to suck has freed me.
So, while I'm qualified to give advice about very little, I AM qualified to give advice about this: If this sounds familiar to you, anonymous reader, if you too have struggled with the passion to write but the inability to actually finish something, JUST WRITE. Write anything. Write badly. If the scene isn't coming to you, just describe what you can and move on. If you aren't sure what comes next, skip to a scene that you'll be able to write more easily. Give yourself permission to suck.
Now I have an hour before I need to leave for work, and I'm going to go write something terrible. ;)
7 comments:
Nice inspirational post here!
I like the notion of a writer giving in to the unbridled energy of creation; it's that burst of creativity that sets the groundwork for anything we do. It's when we put a dam on that flow that we start floundering without any forward motion.
Great post, Jimmie.
I find that's why NANO is so fun. You are forced to toss out the internal editor and the mechanical problems and just put it on the page. Then of course you get 50,000 words that need edited like nothing else but still it's 50,000 words.
Whenever I start a book, I just keep writing until I'm done. A first draft is just the bare bones of the story. Second, third, fourth etc, drafts are where the story takes shape, where you put some meat on those bones. Editing is how you dress it up in its Sunday best, ready to meet the world.
Wonderful post Jimmie. I love the sentence 'you have to mine a lot of dirt to get diamonds'.
Good luck in your writing endeavours!
http://suzyturner.com
I think most of us go through this phase at first. It's those who stick it out who actually finish something.
I know people who don't even get past the planning stage. They polish their plot notes for years, decide who should be cast as what character in the movie adaptation, but the book is never written.
The only way to become a better writer is to WRITE.
Congrats on pushing through the fear!
It's amazing that everyone here is so supportive. Thank you, all of you.
Great post. You're absolutely right, Jimmie -- the only one holding us back is ourselves.
Clive Barker, my literary hero, has a great quote about this: "There's no such thing as a writer. Just a guy who writes."
Never blame yourself for not being as good as you'd like to be -- you'll end up sitting there and writing nothing, and therefore not improving your craft.
Keep on writing. :-)
Nick
One More Day: A Modern Ghost Story
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