B) I still can barely believe you wrote this with dictation. You are the only person I know who speaks like he writes. "Write like you talk" is horrible advice for everyone but you apparently.
Aug 7, 2023Liked by Frank Kidd, Frank Theodat, Zack Grafman, Brady Putzke
I've been sort of slowing down lately, more concerned with editing what I have instead of writing something new, so this article is a much needed slap in the face for me.
Aug 7, 2023Liked by Brady Putzke, Frank Theodat, Zack Grafman, Frank Kidd
Well said. It's also why I really encourage serial over-editors to try nanowrimo—force those words out, every day for 30 days. The 50k word count goal is cool of you hit it, but it's more important to just get your ass in the chair, spill words and STOP OVER-EDITING. It's extremely freeing once you give yourself permission to write total dreck.
Aug 7, 2023Liked by Brady Putzke, Zack Grafman, Frank Theodat, Frank Kidd
Yes! Writing fast is not only a blast, but stokes the fire to continue. It also helps save ideas that pop in unbidden and would otherwise be left in the Notes folder to either wait, be forgotten, or lose their luster. Everyone should try this at least for a time.
Aug 7, 2023Liked by Frank Kidd, Frank Theodat, Zack Grafman, Brady Putzke
I'm glowing after reading this! Most of my writer misery comes from those hours, days, months of picking and cutting and rewriting for the sake of it - to say I completed that part of the process - not because I actually believe in my gut that any change was necessary. I LOVE my first drafts and often want to jettison them immediately into the world, but the collective of "we know better" voices in my head won't let me do it.
Thank you for showing there's another way to do this. A better and more rewarding way, for many of us. 💜🔥🥂
This, exactly. Young writers are constantly told that being excited about their first drafts is essentially tantamount to artistic arrogance. And maybe it is, but in another very real sense thinking you can edit a draft into the next level of craft is essentially arrogant. It’s a shortcut, a refusal to do the real work of cranking out another. Do your work, have fun, press publish. Repeat. 😤😤😤
Aug 7, 2023·edited Aug 7, 2023Liked by Zack Grafman, Frank Kidd, Frank Theodat
Love this! Liberating actually and what I am finding slowly, painfully... perhaps now I'll proceed with my stories with greater velocity. Thank you for writing this. (AKA sick of the gatekeepers)
Aug 7, 2023Liked by Zack Grafman, Frank Theodat, Frank Kidd
Completely true. I started writing with NaNoWriMo and for that you have to just do it. I had three false start novels, over 3 years, before I finished one (not during NaNoWriMo) and then did that again and again and again and again until I switched to novellas last year and to short stories this year. The first two novels I improved very quickly but then plateaued. Novellas did a bit more but with the short story the difference is stark. Going through the whole process dozens, if not hundreds, of times quickly is far better for improvement than the slow months to year long slog of a novel (I still write novels but interspersed with short stories and novellas). It is also important to know that ideas go stale and striking while the iron is hot will produce the best results. I have lost good ideas because I waited (either intentionally or not) and it's disappointing to see an idea die.
Aug 7, 2023Liked by Zack Grafman, Frank Theodat, Frank Kidd, Brady Putzke
When I'm asked if anyone can possess the talent necessary to become a successful fiction writer, I usually ask them what they mean by success. Because in essence, talent has very little to do with success. There are plenty of talented writers that will never write as a means to survive due to circumstance. Creativity doesn't reward in measures equal to the effort involved. There are too many other factors at play. This is where passion comes into the picture. Regardless of your talent, if you're passionate, you increase your chances of success. You'll embrace failure, you'll be honest about your shortcomings, you'll take criticism, you'll learn the rest of the business, you'll work longer hours, and you'll make sacrifices. It's better not to focus on talent. Focus on the writing. Develop a passion and see where it goes. It may go nowhere, or you may be one of the lucky ones. There's only one way to find out.
Aug 7, 2023Liked by Frank Kidd, Frank Theodat, Zack Grafman, Brady Putzke
I do this with music. I will build up to a dozen beats and loops, and then start honing the ones I think might have potential; but there have been several times where I've made something in one sitting, listened to it back again, and then thought, "OK that one is just fine like it is!" It seems this works well at the beginning of a project, but the longer I go, the more my internal editor starts telling me to second-guess myself.
"Repetition of the entire creative process end-to-end, from idea to formation to execution to publication, over and over and over again. This is how you get better. Anything else is not a substitute."
I believe in ritual and reps, repetition and routine. I believe in the grindy bits and sweat equity. i believe you have to keep going. You have to fail. You have to get up. You have to try again. You have to fail some more. The only way to quality is through quantity. I believe we have to make a metric ton of absolute shit to find a diamond, to find the gold.
Excellent stuff. I've found all that advice about outlining, character sheets, and all the rest to be creativity killing garbage. Every time I've engaged in it, it bogs me down, kills the fire, and the project ultimately gets abandoned. Worse, it sits there like a log that refuses to get squeezed out, creative constipation that prevents the flow of new ideas from proceeding.
Thank you for saying that! I feel like it’s one of those lightning rod topics which everyone experiences alone at first and then says “What, you too?”, to bite Lewis’ rhymes on friendship.
Aug 8, 2023·edited Aug 8, 2023Liked by Zack Grafman, Frank Theodat
This is Y Ion unnerstand Writers Block. Butt maybe dats cuz I cum out da Rap/Slam Poetry werld where U "gotta" FLOW 1nce U hit da MIC or da STAGE. I take dat Same Tude 1nce I hit da PAGE too.
Damn, this is what I needed right at this exact moment. I love it when this happens. I've been stymied and low-grade all day today until I read this. It lifted me up and motivated me to do those ten lousy first drafts very fast. I can't wait.
Without the first draft, there's no rewriting. Revision. The work. Also, the fun. Writing is rewriting. Some of my best stories or prose poems are a first draft, half finished. Then I go back weeks or months later. Find out where to go back into it. First draft. The fun and the work. Different essential stages.
A) Beautiful
B) I still can barely believe you wrote this with dictation. You are the only person I know who speaks like he writes. "Write like you talk" is horrible advice for everyone but you apparently.
Full speed ahead, indeed
Aw shucks whatever anyway
I've been sort of slowing down lately, more concerned with editing what I have instead of writing something new, so this article is a much needed slap in the face for me.
For real, I might take up your challenge.
DO IT 🖤
Well said. It's also why I really encourage serial over-editors to try nanowrimo—force those words out, every day for 30 days. The 50k word count goal is cool of you hit it, but it's more important to just get your ass in the chair, spill words and STOP OVER-EDITING. It's extremely freeing once you give yourself permission to write total dreck.
Agreed, Lisa. There is more profit for the writer to churn out words. Practice, practice, practice!
Yes! Writing fast is not only a blast, but stokes the fire to continue. It also helps save ideas that pop in unbidden and would otherwise be left in the Notes folder to either wait, be forgotten, or lose their luster. Everyone should try this at least for a time.
Didn't even think of the benefits of not letting your ideas "cool," as it were. Great point. Strike while the imagination is hot!
I'm glowing after reading this! Most of my writer misery comes from those hours, days, months of picking and cutting and rewriting for the sake of it - to say I completed that part of the process - not because I actually believe in my gut that any change was necessary. I LOVE my first drafts and often want to jettison them immediately into the world, but the collective of "we know better" voices in my head won't let me do it.
Thank you for showing there's another way to do this. A better and more rewarding way, for many of us. 💜🔥🥂
This, exactly. Young writers are constantly told that being excited about their first drafts is essentially tantamount to artistic arrogance. And maybe it is, but in another very real sense thinking you can edit a draft into the next level of craft is essentially arrogant. It’s a shortcut, a refusal to do the real work of cranking out another. Do your work, have fun, press publish. Repeat. 😤😤😤
Love this! Liberating actually and what I am finding slowly, painfully... perhaps now I'll proceed with my stories with greater velocity. Thank you for writing this. (AKA sick of the gatekeepers)
Glad this resonated with you, Reena. Once you adopt pulp speed, you'll find true freedom in writing and publishing. And yes, screw the gatekeepers 😁
Let’s go!!!
Completely true. I started writing with NaNoWriMo and for that you have to just do it. I had three false start novels, over 3 years, before I finished one (not during NaNoWriMo) and then did that again and again and again and again until I switched to novellas last year and to short stories this year. The first two novels I improved very quickly but then plateaued. Novellas did a bit more but with the short story the difference is stark. Going through the whole process dozens, if not hundreds, of times quickly is far better for improvement than the slow months to year long slog of a novel (I still write novels but interspersed with short stories and novellas). It is also important to know that ideas go stale and striking while the iron is hot will produce the best results. I have lost good ideas because I waited (either intentionally or not) and it's disappointing to see an idea die.
Ideas Go Stale. Preach.
When I'm asked if anyone can possess the talent necessary to become a successful fiction writer, I usually ask them what they mean by success. Because in essence, talent has very little to do with success. There are plenty of talented writers that will never write as a means to survive due to circumstance. Creativity doesn't reward in measures equal to the effort involved. There are too many other factors at play. This is where passion comes into the picture. Regardless of your talent, if you're passionate, you increase your chances of success. You'll embrace failure, you'll be honest about your shortcomings, you'll take criticism, you'll learn the rest of the business, you'll work longer hours, and you'll make sacrifices. It's better not to focus on talent. Focus on the writing. Develop a passion and see where it goes. It may go nowhere, or you may be one of the lucky ones. There's only one way to find out.
Yup. That's all I have to say. Yup. And we'll done.
Thanks very much sir! That means a lot. 😃
I do this with music. I will build up to a dozen beats and loops, and then start honing the ones I think might have potential; but there have been several times where I've made something in one sitting, listened to it back again, and then thought, "OK that one is just fine like it is!" It seems this works well at the beginning of a project, but the longer I go, the more my internal editor starts telling me to second-guess myself.
Yes! This!
"Repetition of the entire creative process end-to-end, from idea to formation to execution to publication, over and over and over again. This is how you get better. Anything else is not a substitute."
I believe in ritual and reps, repetition and routine. I believe in the grindy bits and sweat equity. i believe you have to keep going. You have to fail. You have to get up. You have to try again. You have to fail some more. The only way to quality is through quantity. I believe we have to make a metric ton of absolute shit to find a diamond, to find the gold.
Excellent stuff. I've found all that advice about outlining, character sheets, and all the rest to be creativity killing garbage. Every time I've engaged in it, it bogs me down, kills the fire, and the project ultimately gets abandoned. Worse, it sits there like a log that refuses to get squeezed out, creative constipation that prevents the flow of new ideas from proceeding.
Pretty much this 💯
Thank you for detailing and explaining so well a hunch I felt for a long time and also took me years to understand.
All the pros go through this
Thank you for saying that! I feel like it’s one of those lightning rod topics which everyone experiences alone at first and then says “What, you too?”, to bite Lewis’ rhymes on friendship.
This is Y Ion unnerstand Writers Block. Butt maybe dats cuz I cum out da Rap/Slam Poetry werld where U "gotta" FLOW 1nce U hit da MIC or da STAGE. I take dat Same Tude 1nce I hit da PAGE too.
Well said. Thanks for reading
Damn, this is what I needed right at this exact moment. I love it when this happens. I've been stymied and low-grade all day today until I read this. It lifted me up and motivated me to do those ten lousy first drafts very fast. I can't wait.
Thank you so much for this excellent article.
Thanks for reading Donna. Glad this helped!
It means so much to hear that Donna. Full speed ahead!!
Without the first draft, there's no rewriting. Revision. The work. Also, the fun. Writing is rewriting. Some of my best stories or prose poems are a first draft, half finished. Then I go back weeks or months later. Find out where to go back into it. First draft. The fun and the work. Different essential stages.