Off the Cuff / My Other Journal

On Writing Regularly

Writing deserves the best possible emotion: passion. People who practice some form of Zen say: “The idea of writing is to be eager, to have a sense of wonder.”

Especially the professional must take care here; for he develops a mind-set that everything he does must be perfect the first time out. “Forget about it!” as the great Soprano man says. Any writer shouldn’t expect to be perfect at first draft.

“Be open. Don’t have expectations. Don’t think, do.” Yup! Don’t think, do! That’s why we have "Invalid Item" .

But, still, do we? Nope! I try, but do I? That is a question I ask myself every writing day.

We all want to be perfect right from birth, the first breath, the first word, the first sentence. Yet, the impulse that everything has to be perfect is a huge creativity killer. If you can’t fight your impulses, go for the opposite. Write several crappy pages. The world doesn’t stop and no one really notices, especially if you make at least one note-book or one book item “first draft only.”

Then, through the following revisions, you may pick out the good stuff, season the unpalatable, spice the combo and do what you want with your work. Then and only then, you’ll need to expect to stomach sincere criticism.

Picking out the good stuff may be tricky, too. At times, it will be like prospecting for gold. Sometimes you’ll have big chunks; other times you’ll need tweezers to pick out your good stuff.

Never say I only write in the bumblebee genre. Let yourself go when you write. Let your genre flow into other genres. Make mud, if you will. Mixing colors always brings a fresh approach, and even if it is only mud, it will be your mud.

You can be the most talented writer in the world, but if you are not sitting down and writing, what use is that talent? Or do you think your talent will blossom when it goes into hiding? Fat chance! I can’t tell if it is the same for everyone, but stopping for too long kills the daring and the enthusiasm. Given enough rope, unexpressed desire and creativity may shift shape into lowered moods and anger. That anger may even turn inward. Why chance it?

So write everyday. Write even if what you write is just a paragraph or one thousand paragraphs.

If your computer is down, if your hand is hurt, if you can’t see, you can still write. Use a pencil and paper. Use the back of a napkin. Write inside your head. Dictate something into a tape recorder. Creativity is active like water, for like water it needs to flow. If kept still, it turns into a mildewed, stale pool, attracting flies and disease.

Now that I have yakked and yelped on the subject…if I can only go and take my own advice…