Shut Up & Write!

Um... yah... Those are words you are going to hear a lot out of me...

But I'm not telling YOU to shut up (well, I kinda am, but you forgive me in a just a moment), I am telling those crazy ass voices in your head that are whispering so insidiously that you "aren't a writer"or "how dare you try to write."

So be forewarned, if I get the sneaking suspicion that you are listening to those voices, I am going to say, what?

Oh ya... SHUT UP & WRITE

Sure I love to talk about act structure and the hero's journey and playing the magician off the love interest, but none of that does any good if you just nod your head then go and hide under your bed or 'lose your laptop' or get 'too busy' to write that next scene.

Do I remember what it used to feel like to hear those voices and have them try to ruin my writing career? Yep.

Some of them still crop up every once in a while, but I am lucky enough that either they are quieted or I notice they are nothing more than a voice and move on.

I would also love to say that this is going to be a touchy-feely blog or that I'm your biggest cheerleader.

But, alas, that's not how I roll.

I love writing, I love editing, I love re-writing, and I love helping writers who want to improve their writing and take their craft seriously.

I'm sorry, we just have too much real, practical, important craft stuff to cover for me to coax anyone into believing they are a writer.

So here is my philosophy. If you groove to it, great. Follow this blog and we'll be BFFs.

Can anyone write? Of course they can.
Can everyone write well? That depends on how much they wish to improve.

Can we all be Stephen King? No.
Can we all write up to our full potential? Yep.
Is that full potential to the level of King? I have no freaking idea.

But so many people seem to need to know if they'll ever be as good as King before they even try to be as good as their garbageman (which I shouldn't say, because he might have some wicked prose).

My advice for today?

Give yourself permission to write badly. I mean stinky, crappy, your cat shouldn't even read it badly.

Because, you know what?

Some days that's all you are going to write.

And even that heaping pile of gooey bad writing is better than no writing at all!

Next blog...

Shut Up and Write Through It!
#wow #Idosayshutupalot #butitsforyourowngood #orsoshesays