Among the more common questions students ask me is: how do I get better at writing. Realizing that all writers are different, i try to design an answer that suits the writer as I know them. That being said, there are a handful of generalizations that apply. They are as follows:
1. Leave your ego with the 1st draft.
I used to believe I was the Wolverine of writing (best at what I do), but after diving through the works of Drew Karpyshyn (spelling?) and Grant Morrison and spending time with Jason Hardy and Bobie Derie, I see this is not the case. I give good first draft to be sure, but G.O.A.T? The best writers are those who recognize there are people in the world who can help them be better. Ego gets in the way of that. If you allow yourself to pump your ego into your first draft and say, ‘this is the raw me and it rocks.’ You can allow yourself to say, ‘raw me reflects me, now help me revise this so it is something a general audience will treat like gold.’ Let go of that ego in order to allow yourself to receive criticism.
2. Stop missing deadlines
There is something about being a writer and operating on your own time that goes together. WPT, writing people’s time. We miss deadlines so often that our average miss day range becomes a type of deadline. This is very bad, because when you miss deadlines you form a negative reputation in the publishing world (take it from someone who knows). Equally important, you build yourself into a frenzy about the miss and that worry (false adrenaline that doesn’t actually focus you to the task, no matter if you think it does) leads you to miss things and make mistakes you wouldn’t otherwise make. The writing process takes planning. Design a schedule that prevents you from falling into the deadline trap.
3. Read your ass off
You gotta read everyday to understand what good and bad writing looks like. Nuff said.
4. Write all the time.
Just like 3, you gotta get the poison out of you. Good writing comes largely as a result of a lot of bad writing. If you aren’t putting in the hours to get that bad stuff out, you will never have the clarity to get the good stuff out.
Some thoughts:
1. One of the more pleasant aspects of being married or in a relationship is not having to worry about what some random, albeit attractive, chick has to say about your outfit. Nope, I no longer need to dress in a style best suited to get you in bed, because I have neither need nor desire to do so. Therefore, suck it. Yes, we men should be doing this even if single, but we all know how far being yourself generally gets you towards sexual gratification… Sometimes that first date gem wants the myth–not the man.