Writing Tips: The Thing About Writing

I read a lot.

When I was fourteen, I discovered websites full of stories written and posted for the public. Some of the material I read was wonderful and some of it was awful. I found a lot of stories that were littered with spelling mistakes and characters that made decisions that no conscious human being would make. But on occasion, I found stories that were decent, even enjoyable. In particular, there was one author that updated her story on a weekly basis with new chapters and everything she wrote sounded brilliant. So one day, I thought, I can do that too. I know the English language. I know what not to do. How hard can it be?

Let me just say one thing: famous last words.


Writing is difficult, from beginning to end.

That isn't to say that you shouldn't write, but you should know it isn't going to be effortless. Writing takes work.

- You need an idea.
- You need characters, perhaps even if you're writing poetry.
- There's a possibility you may even need to have a plot when you begin writing.
- At some point you are going to meet The Blank Page, which can be rather frightening.
- You need to keep your characters alive and your plot moving forward.
- And as you progress in your writing, eventually you'll meet The Blank Page again, when someone is expecting something good from you. That makes it even more frightening.
- At some point, you'll probably have a complete draft, but it won't come out perfect the first time.
- You'll need to revise, if not even rewrite.
- You may even have to repeat that step a few times.
- You'll have to edit.
- A few years after you write something, you may find yourself looking back and wondering what that thing on the floor is. Maybe it was writing, but it sort of resembles roadkill too, so it's difficult to say for sure.

If you want to write, then do it and do it well. Lists like that one can be threatening, especially when you're just beginning. But know that writing, like everything, changes with time and practice. If you don't give up, if you continue to learn and keep moving forward, you'll get better. It'll be a lot of work, but in the end, when you're holding your finished product it will be worth it.


(Note: I know I said I'd write a post on procrastination today, but I thought it would be better to start at the beginning. Funny, procrastinating on a post about procrastination...)