Should you wait for inspiration before you start to write? What if you sit down and look at the blank page and nothing occurs to you?
Robert Ringer, best known for a best-selling book called Winning Through Intimidation (which was actually a lot more constructive than the title suggests), recently shared some of rules for being a productive writer.
Here are the two parts of his first rule of writing, along with my comments:
1a: Force yourself to write; once you get going, don’t stop to congratulate yourself.
The idea behind the first part of this is that if you take writing seriously you can’t wait for inspiration to come to you. You have to go to it (even if it’s hiding and won't come out at first).
In one of my writing workshops a participant said he tried to do this, but some days he would feel blocked in working on his novel. I asked him what he did on those days. “Uh…just look around the internet,” he said.
I suggested that instead he start writing about one of his characters—anything, not necessarily material that would be in the book. For instance, if it was eight in the morning when he sat down to work on his novel, write about what his protagonist would be doing at eight in the morning.
He looked sceptical but told me he’d try it and report back to me.
A couple of weeks later I heard from him. He said not only did it work in terms of getting his writing juices flowing, it also promoted some new ideas for the plot.
1b: Once you get going, don’t stop to congratulate yourself.
The second admonition is one you don’t hear as often, but it rings true. When I was starting out it seemed such a wonder that I could actually complete a few pages of writing that I’d stop and re-read them, which led to reworking them and then re-reading some more. That makes it hard to get a flow going.
Ringer says he used to do the same thing, but for him it was another form of procrastination.
Everyone has to find his or her own way, but these days I find it more useful to plow ahead and go back later.
In the next post: Ringer’s second rule of writing
One of my rules of writing is, if you need support and guidance, get it! One way to do that is to join my online Writing Breakthrough Strategy program. You can find out more and sign up at http://www.WritingBreakthroughStrategy.com.
