Is writing no fun anymore?
Day in and day out you’re probably focused on turning out the best, most saleable writing possible. Your bread and butter ideas that pay the rent.
It’s like practicing free throws over and over again when what you really need to do is run back to half court and launch up a couple prayers just for the heck of it.
Most writers get stuck in creative ruts quite often. You work on the same type of thing repeatedly, and all of a sudden it all starts to run together like Jello on a hot summer day.
The cure? Spend ten minutes every day writing something you’re going to throw away. Pretend you don’t care about grammar, structure or any of the rules that have you chained to your routine right now.
Forget all the rules and just write what’s in your head. Write something fun for a change. If you laugh out loud and get that self-satisfied clever feeling, you’re doing well.
Once you’re done, throw away the paper or drag it to the recycle bin.
Along this same line, I find it useful to write a first draft (of chapters or just in general) this way. Get my basic premises down on paper, and then completely retype the thing with more details afterward.
Great Blog btw. I’ve been reading for a couple months now (found you through one of your comments on Lifehacker).
Left by Jeff on March 15th, 2007