The Magic of Write Now

The biggest open secret to success as a writer is this.

I’ve been doing some long-overdue housecleaning lately — both physically and digitally. It’s revealed some interesting artifacts.

While going through some old boxes in my office, I came across one of my old ideas notebooks. This is where I jotted down ideas for essays, stories, and other projects back when I was getting nothing really accomplished.

Lots of ideas written down. No action.

While going through some old online files, I came across some text files composed in EVE. EVE was the text editor that sat on VAX mainframes. These files were twenty-some-odd years old. Like the notebooks, they were full of ideas that never saw fruition.

I remember that younger self. He wanted to be a writer so bad. He had lots of exciting ideas but never did anything with them.

Why not?

He (by which I mean me) really wanted to be a writer back then, but I had no discipline, practice, or any genuine concept of what it really took. But I loved my ideas and wrote them down faithfully so I wouldn’t forget them…

… and promptly forgot all about them.

Fast forward to today. I’m a working writer. I make a living — mostly. More than some. Certainly on my way to making a decent living.

So what’s different?

The way I treat my ideas when I have them.

I no longer jot down a sentence or two summarizing my idea in the hope I’ll know what I meant later.

Instead, I take the idea and write it out as much as I can right at that moment.

Striking while the iron is hot

There is nothing quite like fleshing out an idea while it’s fresh. Because I’ve been writing for a while now, I’ve internalized the basic structure of Introduction, thesis, body, and conclusion, so I can usually complete the first draft in order in one sitting.

I might list out body’s subject headers first, then go back and fill in those sections, but the point is that as soon as I start writing, I keep my butt in the chair until I’ve either finished or honestly run out of energy. (It happens.)

• Intro → Usually features the initial idea
• Body paragraph → First supporting idea
• Body paragraph → Second supporting idea
• Body paragraph → Third supporting idea
• Conclusion

The form and length may vary. I use the classic “five-paragraph essay” as my default template, but I try to be flexible.

And more to the point, I don’t try to be perfect!

Perfetcion is for suckers

At least the first time around.

Don’t get bogged down in the details for that first draft. Write in the now. Refine it later.

But not too much later.

Ideally, after you finish your first draft, get up and stretch. Walk around. Get a cup of coffee. Play with the dog for a few minutes. Then sit back down while you’re still somewhat fresh and go through it to see what tweaks it needs, what arguments need reframing, and so forth.

Then, I’d say you can leave it alone for a bit.

Now that you’ve gotten all that writing done, you can get on with your life, whether it be doing the dishes, playing some Xbox, or writing another piece.

Take it out the next day and give it a fresh read. Take your time.

And only then when you think it’s ready — launch it. Post it. Submit it to a publication. Something.

Do it now

What you shouldn’t do is put it away for another day. If you do that, you may not look at it again for months or years. It may no longer be relevant either to you or the times.

It’s one thing to let your writing sit fallow for a day or so.

It’s another to leave it buried for years.

I’m rarely short of ideas of things to write about, but I do mourn some of the ideas I toyed around with some twenty years ago. Some of those ideas aren’t really usable now. They’re lost, like tears in rain. Others might be usable, but I’m twenty years older, and I’m not the same person I was back then.

That’s okay.

I’m letting them go and working on what I’m working on right now.

And that’s the Big Open Secret.

Try not to put off partially finished work — you might never get around to finishing it.

Instead, go with your momentum. Move forward with your writing and see where doing it right now can take you.

You’ll become a better writer, and you’ll have fewer regrets.

Cheers!

About John Teehan

John lives in Rhode Island with his wife, son, and dog. He specializes in tech, health, business, parenting, pop culture, and gaming. Visit wordsbyjohn.net for more info and rates. Twitter: @WordsByJohn2