3 Simple Writing Tips

When I'm afraid to write, I remember these 3 techniques.

I've read several books on writing, and have learned really good stuff from each of them, but when I'm really in rut; I simply use those 3 simple tricks that I learned from the first one that I ever picked up: Yes! It's that one! The one whose name that I can't remember to save my fuckin’ life! I remember the tips but not the name of the book, or it's author. And Google’s epic search engine was no help either, so if the tips mentioned here sounds similar to a book you've read, ( though these writing tips can likely be found in like 50 other books long after this one was written. ) please leave any of your guesses in the comments. I do know that it was written by a college professor who wanted to help students going into their freshman year with essay writing. Okay! Hope these are useful. :)

1: Write The Way You Speak

These words almost seemed to jump off the page when I first read them at age 14: “ Write the way that you speak. ” It felt like such of a radical idea. Using words to effectively communicate in public is undoubtedly a huge part of our survival in society, and often we're able to improve our speaking skills a little faster than we do our reading and writing skills, even though they all work together. And that's the key: They all work together. Writers often ( Me included ) write like we live deep inside of a literary hole, where every sentence mimics a tragic romance, to the point where we can barely hear the sound of the chitter chatter of our daily lives.

Seth Godin, a popular business author, and daily blogger, once said “ No one ever gets talker’s block. No one wakes up in the morning, discovers he has nothing to say and sits quietly, for days or weeks, until the muse hits, until the moment is right, until all the craziness in his life has died down. Why then, is writer’s block an endemic? ” He goes on to explain how we get better at talking because we easily get more practice at doing it, and that it is generally perceived as something that's “ cheap ”, so we put lower stakes on it than we do our writing abilities. He goes on to say “ Writer’s block isn’t hard to cure. Just write poorly. Continue to write poorly, in public, until you can write better. ” The first lesson I learned from that book on writing better essays wasn't which writers work I should try to immediate, or even how to clearly articulate my thoughts and ideas. No. The first thing I was taught was to simply “ Write the way that you speak. ”

The Power Of Brainstorming

Brainstorming and writing the way that you speak seem to go hand in hand: If you know how to not judge yourself for writing the same way that you talk, then why shame yourself over the process of your mind’s attempts at coming up with new ideas for writing right on the spot? This technique was designed to batter the blank page with words! Those empty spaces on the page are like white swirling wind gusts, of chaotic unrealized potential, that haunts a writer who just wants to come up with new stuff. This has been the best way for me to beat the paper ( or my tangled and undeveloped thoughts ) into submission.

When I began writing poetry, I was very intimidated by the idea of even writing a poem. ( Some days, I'm still intimidated. ) I knew I had stuff that I wanted to write poems about, but I didn't know how to make a poem; I didn't really have a process. Whether you're brainstorming on one particular idea, several ideas, or nothing in particular, it's a good way to get started with whatever you seek to create through writing. Hell, even if you brainstorm based on a painting or some other form of an image may give you the spark that you need to move forward.

Think of it this way: If things like improved sleep and less screen time on phones is a diet for writers, than brainstorming is exercise! Brainstorming is that 10,000 steps a day idea, but for writers. This isn't an exact science of course, so set your own rules of engagement: I use to try to brainstorm at least 5 to 10 pages a day; this was too much, and became too much mental pressure that I was putting on myself. So, now when I brainstorm, I attempt write just 50 to 100 words. This sort of brainstorm has the added bonus of being so much more achievable, that it makes it more than likely that I will almost certainly excess my intended word count.

And this leads me to my last writing tip…

Lower Your Standards

Once you understand that bad drafts are a part of the game of improving your writing, the sooner you will be able to overcome your fear of not becoming a good writer, over time it will get easier to trust this process.

Also, lowering your standards allows you to get rid all of those messy junk mail ideas out of your head, so that you'll eventually be able to piece together much more smooth and concise thoughts. Sometimes lowering your standards requires, late nights, bloodshot eyes, with anxiety working it's way towards your stomach, as you remember that you've yet to eat dinner. It's fine. Go ahead and write. Do it. Get all of the garbage out of your system for the sake of a decent line, because no one is watching you, only your own overly self-conscious mind prying after a fragile sense of perfection.

You need to be is like the comedian who goes on stage, with a small sheet of paper that has a few words scribbled on it, who doesn't have the bit completely worked out just yet, but knows that the silences will be replaced with laughs once it gets there. Be like the deep diving essayist who writes an extended verbal massacre, before they are able to write another masterpiece. Please, just be like the blogger on WordPress, HubSpot, LinkedIn, or Substack, who chooses not to give into the their fears of someone else seeing inadequacy, a lack expertise, or a few possible typos, in an article which they have wrote. Learn to resist every sort of internal and external criticism by simply pressing the button that says post.