I wonder if the hardest thing for most aspiring writers to do is write?

At least that’s the thing that seems to scare the hell out of newer writers. They have ideas but where is the time to put them down? Where is the dedication and drive to research, write and edit their work?

It’s fun writing, it’s not so much fun editing. It’s less fun going under an editor’s knife. And then there is the whole business aspect which involves contracts, agents, publishers, deadlines … yikes.

But all I want to do is write. Join the club! That’s why I have a blog. There I can just write, without worrying about the business of writing. Yes, I still will sometimes go back and correct spelling mistakes and missing words, but beyond that I try not edit this blog material. I would sooner write a follow-up blog entry to clarify what was said and shape a piece that way.

Blogs are the modern day writer’s equivalent of first drafts.

Writers write, readers read, and people with ideas remain people with ideas if they don’t take action. I’ve also found that the minute I tell someone else my idea, my idea is usually no longer exciting or compelling. The best ideas seem to be the ones I’ve kept to myself and worked out/over in my brain repeatedly and then shown someone once I’ve actually written them down.

I think when people start putting all these rules they bind up the creative process. So just write the darn thing, then tear it down, tear it apart, rework it. It’s very difficult, almost impossible for me anyway, to edit while I write. I applaud those who are capable of this.

For me with any significant work it is first draft, cool, read, edit, cool, read, edit, cool, final draft, cool, read, edit, cool, submit (then begins the editorial process).

Distance, I’ve found is a greatly undervalued property in one’s work, and the more that one can put him/herself into it, the better their final, polished work will become. Some writers are capable of short circuiting the draft/redraft process — or so I’ve read. I’ve never known anybody that can do that and I certainly can’t.

For shorter pieces like articles, the cycle is shorter, perhaps, but there is still a process. Or should be for most writers.

Recently I was criticized in the comment area for not having good impulse control. A worthwhile observation considering that I’m not all that concerned with polishing these blog entries. In this blog it’s all about first drafts and impulses. It’s about events, things, opinions, reviews that make one go hmm.

Impulses, not perfection.

Generally speaking, writers who try and churn out perfect prose in their blog entries are going to have less output. This is fine if this is the type of blog they are writing. It’s my opinion that most of this blog stuff is rough/first draft material. Impulse driven, yes. Good writing starts with passion and is shaped by the business of writing. There are some people who can churn out quality prose without editing very much, I’m just saying that I’m not one of those people, nor do I try to be here in this blog.

In summary, if you want to learn how to write, then the first step is to start writing something, anything.

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