How To Become an Effective Writer in One Day
This 2-minute writing advice is useful for every new writer
Is your mind drawn in several directions at once? That’s because your boundless freedom is an obstacle.
“Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion,” it’s the so-called Parkinson’s Law.
Expanding on Parkinson’s Law, if you are not time-bound to complete a project, you’ll never start it. More so if you are a writer. Writers have an awkward love-hate relationship with their writing.
Moreover, I can bet you are a shi**y writer. Just like every other writer who ever lived — especially me. I can say this because I have read all my work. I fail to make sense 90% of the time. If you want to read my work, read these stories.
Whatever you are to write, it’s probably going to be crap. Writing this sentence is to condemn every budding writer to hell — including myself. But you’ll feel better after reading the next two lines — I hope.
Do you know why you are a shi**y writer? Why are you wasting your time writing crap? It’s because you are comparing your raw ideas to well-edited polished masterpieces.
Who do you read? People who have been writing for ten, twenty, or thirty years. All the great writers were just like you when they started.
Are newbies doing it wrong? Well, most of us are doing the opposite of what we should do.
I feel two things. First, I wait for the time when I feel like writing. When I am not writing, I start reading or watching Netflix. Second, I want to write a perfect first draft.
Based on the above probes, I suggest you follow these two approaches:
1. Reading curfew for 24 hours
Postpone reading anything — for the next 24 hours. It’ll free your mind. All you have to do is to write a 1000-word article.
You cannot watch Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube, or any TV channel. Promise not to visit Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. No, you cannot explore Clubhouse either.
No articles, novels, newspapers, books, or short stories — you can read if they are directly related to your topic. You’ll read only the parts that support your piece.
If you go through this 24-hour reading curfew, you’ll have a masterpiece ready for publishing.
2. Freedom to write badly
Every first draft is pretty stupid. So go ahead, write whatever you want.
Great writers create shi**y first drafts all the time, but they are clever. They destroy the bad work before it reaches anyone. For example, Ernest Hemingway discarded 9 out of 10 novels he wrote. People read only the ones he didn’t drop.
Good writers read their drafts many times — in a loud voice. When a sentence sounds silly, cut it. Repeat until it sounds okay. Aim for good enough.
Takeaways
- Restrict your freedom when you want to write. Feel as if you have no choice but to write.
- Feel free to write less than perfect stories.
