Thursday 9 March 2017

The secret of good writing is to just get started


Why is it sometimes it takes a lot of effort to just get on with it?  ..                                           


..the writing.
You have pens, notepads, digital and otherwise, but it still can look tricky. 
Here is what you can do to overcome that feeling of blank and to get on with the flow of writing.

Tips on writing 
Give yourself permission to write  nonsense. Write things down that don't make sense at first. Write badly. But once you have started to write that nonsense, the good stuff will soon start coming after.
All writers whether good or established do not always routinely feel wildly enthusiastic and confident. Not one of them writes masterful first drafts. 
So it is ok to write badly and illegible, as this is what is going to come before the legible elegant draft.





Just get those first few paragraphs or words down, any way you can manage. Think of the topic only when writing. This is key. Forget about sentence structure and grammar. Just concentrate on the topic when writing your first drafts. 

Then you must be firm with yourself.
Lock the door. Set yourself time. Turn the internet off initially, especially if you tend to procrastinate a lot and get side-tracked by what is trending on twitter.
Where, for example, you find yourself watching Youtube videos over on the dark side and wonder how you got to that point.
Yes, we all do that. 
Where you feel guilt for not texting back those people who have been waiting for a message, but they have seen you sharing posts to said social media page.





Back to writing.

Write what you want to write. Whatever it is, as if no one will read it. 
Refer back to your ideas you write down on scrap paper or diary. (If you don't do this you should, any little idea that pops into your head write it down for future reference.) 

Write every day and keep a blog or diary.

Try not to proofread as you are writing. There will be plenty of time for that later. Once grammar is learned, we then break all the rules, so write it down any old way.

Once you have finished a first draft leave it for a while, at least a week or so if possible. As then you go back to it brand new and see it with new eyes and see all the mistakes. Then you can correct it with an edit. This is then your first edit. 

Keep all your writings in the same place and no one is allowed to go near it. Always put the notebooks back in the same place. This makes life so much easier. 
The secret of a good writer is to just get started they say. I feel it is more likely the secret of  good writing is just to get started. 
Write those first few words down now.
Then congratulate yourself. 



Look at snoopy fun here 


More writing tips