Writing About Writing — How I begin my work

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en%20to%20those%20who%20are%20not%20aspiring%20writers.%20If%20you've%20always%20wondered%20what%20led%20Steve%20to%20become%20a%20writer%20and%20how%20he%20came%20to%20be%20the%20success%20he%20is%20today,%20this%20will%20answer%20those%20questions.">Stephen King</a> gives the same advice, to just write, although a bit more strongly: King will tell you to ignore dictionaries, ignore a thesaurus, and ignore research that isn’t part of the story. If you don’t know something, leave a marker for later. Don’t let anything get in the way of writing. In addition, you will find also wonderful quotes by King at this link.When you begin your writing project, whatever it is, fiction, nonfiction, academic or graphic novel, repeat words if necessary and let the sentences be weak. Let the story unfold in any way it can. There will be errors and redundancies, but so what. You are writing and in the zone. Think how good it will feel when you finally reach an end.When it finally comes to editing, something from King’s words is often quoted: “Leave out

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the boring parts and kill your darlings. You can’t be so attached to your work that you won’t chop it up and cut it down when needed. It’s pretty self-explanatory, the boring bits must go.”I’m guilty of over researching and going down wormholes. The research process is so much more fun to me than the writing. I must be honest here and upfront that it was the research for my book, Taking Aim at the President: The Remarkable Story of the Woman Who Shot at Gerald Ford, that got the attention of the screenwriters more than the prose, so there is that.Yet, you can’t let the research get in the way of writing. You might end up with a pile of research and no pages. Ooops.The beauty of all-out writing is that you don’t know where you are going and what you might find out and you are barreling along. You might just surprise yourself. If you were thinking too hard about the story in this first draft, you might miss a unique scene. How often has this happened to you?Go for it.</article></body>

Writing About Writing — How I begin my work

I have some advice for you about getting started

Photo by RODNAE Productions for Pexel

If I’ve learned anything about writing it is to “just write it down” and don’t worry about grammar, punctuation, spelling, and if it doesn’t make sense.

Remember writer and prolific author Anne Lamott’s popular book, Bird by Bird, about writing in which she argues for the need to let go and write those “shitty first drafts” that lead to clarity and sometimes brilliance in our second and third drafts. You will find some wonderful quotes from this link.

Stephen King gives the same advice, to just write, although a bit more strongly: King will tell you to ignore dictionaries, ignore a thesaurus, and ignore research that isn’t part of the story. If you don’t know something, leave a marker for later. Don’t let anything get in the way of writing. In addition, you will find also wonderful quotes by King at this link.

When you begin your writing project, whatever it is, fiction, nonfiction, academic or graphic novel, repeat words if necessary and let the sentences be weak. Let the story unfold in any way it can. There will be errors and redundancies, but so what. You are writing and in the zone. Think how good it will feel when you finally reach an end.

When it finally comes to editing, something from King’s words is often quoted: “Leave out the boring parts and kill your darlings. You can’t be so attached to your work that you won’t chop it up and cut it down when needed. It’s pretty self-explanatory, the boring bits must go.”

I’m guilty of over researching and going down wormholes. The research process is so much more fun to me than the writing. I must be honest here and upfront that it was the research for my book, Taking Aim at the President: The Remarkable Story of the Woman Who Shot at Gerald Ford, that got the attention of the screenwriters more than the prose, so there is that.

Yet, you can’t let the research get in the way of writing. You might end up with a pile of research and no pages. Ooops.

The beauty of all-out writing is that you don’t know where you are going and what you might find out and you are barreling along. You might just surprise yourself. If you were thinking too hard about the story in this first draft, you might miss a unique scene. How often has this happened to you?

Go for it.