Writing is HARD
There are three things you need to do if you’re a writer.
1) Have an idea.
Ideas aren’t hard. Ideas come to me faster than I can deal with them. A couple of weeks ago, I was asked to pitch a story idea to fit a specific format. I started with nothing. I walked down to the supermarket and by the time I reached it (about 20 minutes) I had a fully-formed idea. Ideas are easy. I can have six ideas before breakfast (not always good ones).
People who think they want to be writers but don’t have any ideas what to write about probably shouldn’t really be writers. Have an idea first, and then decide to write about it. Don’t decide to write something and then have to beg for ideas. You’re in the wrong business if you’re doing that. Seriously.
2) Know the mechanics.
Yes you need to know grammer and have a decent vocabulary and understand how to structure your writing on the large and small scale. You need to learn all this before you start writing.
This isn’t difficult. Grammar and structure and vocabulary can be learned. It’s a skill like any other, and you put the time in to learn it and practice it just as you would any other skill.
The mechanics aren’t hard.
3) Sit down and write.
This is what’s hard about writing. The mental discipline to sit down and turn all the great ideas and knowledge into written words. Since last summer I’ve had a dozen writing projects I should have done, and I just haven’t done them. I should be finishing the next issue of Heroes (it’s been two-thirds written for months). I should be fixing The Hero and the Ice Queen and submitting it somewhere (it needs two minor changes to improve the ending, a total of 10 minutes’ work). I should be starting any of the other publishable ideas I have in the back of my mind.
If I sit at the keyboard and concentrate, I can write a short story in an afternoon. I have the ideas and I know the mechanics. There should be nothing stopping me from writing something productive right now.
But I’m not. I’m finding a hundred other pointless things to waste time on.
Because writing is really HARD.
Currently listening to: The House Sisters (EP)
May 9th, 2009 at 10:15 pm
I have to completely agree with this.
I’ve been going to write a story. Most of the events and some of the plot were already in existance all I had to do was fill a few gaps the original story line had missed and revise the balance between some characters at a key point.
I have been going to do this for two or three years now; all I have to do is sit down and do it…
I will sit down and do it Dave … I will …