Great (and funny) advice from Chuck Wendig, things I’ve found to be true and have to work on myself but never put into words:
There is no Muse.
You are not slave to your inspiration, to some mystical ‘Muse’. “You do not work for the Muse. She works for you. Chain her to the pole and make her dance.” For this, you have to sit down, and write.
There is no Writer’s Block.
The feeling of being blocked isn’t restricted to writers. Again, start doing the work. By just making stuff up – which is the most awesome way! “You combat one lie with another: the glorious lie of fiction.”
There is no Perfect Draft.
“The perfect draft is a myth. […] You should accept that “This Sucks” is part of your novel’s life cycle. It will get better as long as you let it get better. […] don’t expect your first draft to be the one that blows everybody’s socks into the sky, either.
Put the perfect draft out of your mind.
It sucks now. Which is why you’re going to keep working to fix it.”
Summed up, the major point Wendig makes is this:
Don’t let liberally bandied-about myths keep you from finishing your manuscript! Don't waste time listening to others.
Sit down and WRITE!
I’ve quoted Yoda before, but I'm itching to do so again:
Do. Or do not. There is no ‘try’.
No comments:
Post a Comment