3 Ideas in 2 Minutes on Pragmatic Truths About Writing
Writer’s Block, Copying Others & Leaving Polite Society
I. Writer’s Block
We’ve all experienced Writer’s Block, the excruciating inability to put ideas on paper. American singer-songwriter John Mayer has a pragmatic view on where it comes from and what to do about it:
Writer's block is when the two people inside of you, the writer and the reader, when the reader doesn't love the writer. Or when the listener doesn't love the player. And so writer's block is not a failure to write. It is a failure to catch this feedback loop of enjoying what you're seeing and wanna contribute more to it.
So, writer's block, for me doesn't happen as often as it does for other people because I know when I'm ready to sit down and go for it.
II. Copying Others
As naughty as it may sound, copying others can be a way to improve your writing (and possibly find your way out of writer’s block, too). Here’s a technique writer Gary Provost suggests:
From time to time take a few paragraphs from something that you enjoyed reading and sit down at the typewriter or with a notebook and copy them word for word. You will find yourself suddenly aware of the choices the writer made. You will look at the work from the writer's point of view. In time you will feel like an insider, and you will say, "I know why he chose this word; I know why he made two short sentences here instead of one long one." You will become more intimate with the writer's words and with words in general, and your own writing will be better for it.
—Gary Provost, 100 Ways to Improve Your Writing
On a similar note, I wrote about How to Get Better at Writing in 7+1 Steps.
III. Leaving Polite Society
Stephen King has been wildly successful in writing horror and fantasy novels. According to the author, there’s a condition for success that is often overlooked:
If you expect to succeed as a writer, rudeness should be the second-to-least of your concerns. The least of all should be polite society and what it expects. If you intend to write as truthfully as you can, your days as a member of polite society are numbered, anyway.
―Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
To be fair, it’s much easier to leave “polite society” if you’re selling books by the millions. I guess it’s the leap of faith you have to take that makes King’s idea so fear-inducing. 🐘
Have a great week,
Chris
themindcollection.com
P.S.: Check out my latest article about 5 Practical Philosophy Books to Bring Out Your Inner Philosopher.