Just Start Writing
Great stock advice, right?
Just get your butt in the chair.
One word.
One sentence.
One paragraph.
One scene.
One dialogue exchange.
One chapter.
Keep doing it. Day after day.
All the sudden you’ll have a complete story in front of you, but if you never start or don’t write a single word because excuses, you’ll never have anything.
“QUANTITY PRODUCES QUALITY. IF YOU ONLY WRITE A FEW THINGS, YOU’RE DOOMED.”
That’s the consensus, right? That’s what “they” all tell us. Just do it.
Book after book after book says the same thing as if it’s some sort of wildly profound epiphany. As if our eyes suddenly go blank and a robot brain takes control. I. Will. Write. Now.
Does it have merit? Of course it does.
But, if we’re being real, it can be a struggle.
Sure, sometimes the ideas just flow, we get on a hot streak, and emerge from our writing cave to find an entirely new season outside or your husband has grown a full-on 70’s porn ‘stache.
Ideas don’t come in a timely, scheduled manner though. They come while you’re in the grocery store, driving, at 4 a.m., during yoga while you objectify your instructor’s glorious ass, or in the middle of your spouse’s long recap of their day when your mind starts to wander.
Sometimes it’s just a word that pops into your head. A sentence. A character. An entire scene complete with action, dialogue, and setting descriptions.
Like a black widow, the muse strikes when the muse strikes. Rarely is that staring at a totally hostile, mocking, blinking cursor on a blank page at 8 a.m. when you’ve cleared the day to write.
“SHOW UP, SHOW UP, SHOW UP, AND AFTER A WHILE THE MUSE SHOWS UP, TOO.”
It can be anxiety-inducing if you’re working with a deadline or are in the middle of a work-in-progress. We need to keep it moving forward.
But, again, sometimes it’s just not there.
So what should you do? How do you overcome it?
Honestly? Everyone is different. Everyone works in their own way. Everyone has different motivators, work ethic, time constraints - the list is endless. So, I’ll just give you some ideas of what I do.
START WITH YOUR WIP
Clear your mind. Teachers, parents, wives, kids, dogs, stresses, whatever they are - get them out of there. Well, not dogs, keep the good boys close.
Go back and read your previous day’s work. I heard this advice probably 15 years ago and I stick to it. I do it every time I sit down to write. If that doesn’t stir anything, read ten pages. Read a chapter. Get yourself back into the story.
After you do that, write. Pick up where you left off and let the words flow. It doesn’t even matter if you write absolute shit. Chunk it later. It’s better than not having written and, more importantly, you’ve gotten it out of your head. Now there’s space for the good stuff. And more song lyrics.
WRITE SOMETHING ELSE ENTIRELY
When they say, “just write,” most leave off “anything”. If you’re still stuck, change tactics. Focus on something else. Set the pressure aside. Sometimes we hit a wall so hard in a story that we have to wait it out. The last thing you want to do is force your way through - it will show.
No author or screenwriter has just one idea for just one book or script. Go through some of those notes you have everywhere or something you’ve started and focus on a different WIP. I know you have one (or ten).
Creative writing exercises are a great way to get your writer brain turned-on. Find a list of ideas or writing prompts that spark your interest. Choose one and write a sentence, a paragraph, a short story - wherever your creativity takes you.
Spanning generations and genres, extremely successful authors agree on one thing (probably the only thing): JUST WRITE. Sometimes that’s easier said than done. Even when we desperately want to. But in the end, to be a writer, you have to write. The muse will come.
So get your butt in that chair.
