One thing I’ve never understood is animosity from one writer to another. It’s ugly and pointless for one writer to try and bring another down.
There’s no reason that someone can’t read more than one book. In fact, I’m guilty of reading a book in a day if my girlfriend will let me. And, when in bookstores, the urge to fill my arms until they nearly overflow is almost overwhelming.
Making friends with other writers is an incredible way to not only find new books, but also learn from them. And, while I’m not the most successful writer out there, I have connected with other people who want to publish their work, and I’ve passed advice down to them.
So, here is the best advice that was ever given to me by another writer. It’s a piece of advice I’ve passed down as well.
Are you ready?
Just write.
What?
Yep. That’s it.
Even when it sucks, even when you hate it, just write. Keep writing. Rewrite it later. Make an entire draft that you despise and fix it in the next round. Because there’s nothing wrong with that.
Also, avoid that delete button. Don’t delete anything (unless it’s harmful).
And don’t be concerned about the first draft. Chances are, you’ll rearrange and change half of it later anyway.
Put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard.
(pen to paper is super good for the soul).
As long as you’re getting something down, you’re making progress. Maybe you’ll hate the scene, but you might love the dialogue. Maybe you’ll hate a description, but love the tone.
And the best part is, you can change it later.
I was once told if you don’t have at least five drafts, you’re not finished.
They’re right.
Every single piece of work that I’ve considered done without having this many drafts, are my least favorite pieces. Drafts are important. Editing is important. It sucks at the time, but it’s important.
There’s a quote that says “No matter how slow you’re going, you’re still lapping everyone on the couch.” I think this can be applied to writing. Even if you’re not proud of what you wrote, or even if you didn’t write much, what’s important is that you wrote something.
In writing, something is usually much better than nothing.