BEST WRITING ADVICE (PART THREE) : THE ALMIGHTY B-I-T-CH by Penny Hutson

 

If you’ve read (Part One) and (Part Two) of my “Best Writing Advice” blog series, then you know reading a lot and not looking back to edit the previous day’s work are tools I’ve used in completing first drafts. Today’s advice gets me started and keeps me creating. 

I’ll beg my readers’ pardon for the crude sounding acronym in my title, which merely stands for “butt in the chair.” It’s not a new expression, and you may have heard it before. I used it for the chuckle or laugh of recognition it might bring, but also because I find it fitting to the task. Let’s face it. Writing is hard, and often the hardest part is making yourself sit down and write. To stop whatever else you’re doing, get rid of any distractions, and just write can be a daunting task.

I have a friend who’s been developing a novel in her head for more than thirty years – true story. Eventually, she plans to write it down and publish it but insists she’s got to get the entire story just right before committing anything to paper. As you’ve likely guessed, she hasn’t written or published a single word. Perhaps that’s an extreme example, but many of us are doing some version of that. We’ll finish writing that mystery when we figure out who the killer should be, or we’ll start that new romance when we have an original storyline, better hook, or more interesting main character. The reasons are endless.

My advice this week is to just sit down and write, or start an outline, at least. I never get any writing done unless I’m sitting in front of the keyboard and typing. Others may use a pen and paper or voice recorder. Some may even create at a standing desk. It doesn’t matter how you write. It only matters that you do. Sure, we get ideas in the shower, while driving or doing something other than writing; but we must put the words down on the page (be it virtual or real ink) or they disappear.

And just for the record, no writer envisions an entire story or nonfiction piece with every detail in their head worked out ahead of time. The truth is that writing begets writing. Ideas bring more ideas, but you must write them down first. I can’t explain why this is true, just that our brains appear to work that way. You must write out your first thoughts, lines of dialogue, or descriptions before the next lines will come to you. If we spend too much time thinking, like my friend, it will take much longer to reach our writing goals or worse - we may never even finish.