Wednesday, April 18, 2012

You'll Never Learn to Write By Reading About Writing

Can you lose weight by reading books about losing weight?

Um, no.

However, you can lose weight if you take action after you read. Unfortunately, that's the hard part.

The same holds for writing. Go ahead, read books on how to write. Read a hundred. But please, please don't let that be a substitute for learning how to write. You have to write in order to do that.

Never let I don't know enough stop you from writing. Never let it keep your nose stuck in some writing instruction manual. It's just another excuse, another delaying tactic. It sounds careful and responsible. It makes you sound as if you want the proper education before you proceed. But we're not running nuclear power plants here.

If you really think about it, I don't know enough is just an ego-protecting code phrase that really means I don't want to make a mistake. Or worse: I'm afraid.

You have to make mistakes and be afraid. It's how you'll learn and improve.

Don't give your power away to these fears. Instead, shut up and write. You will slowly but surely acquire skills, technique and expertise, and they will come as you make mistakes and get experience. That's just part of the deal.

Don't put off writing any more. You already know enough. Just start.