things i wish someone told me before i started writing (and also things i ignored anyway)
okay. writers of tumblr. iâve compiled a list of things i desperately wish someone had sat me down and said before i started writing, not that i wouldâve listened, because i was 14 and powered entirely by hubris, iced coffee, and my wattpad era.
1. stop rewriting chapter one.
i know you think itâll fix everything. it wonât. itâs a hydra. you cut one head off, two Google Docs appear.
2. your first draft is not a treaty with god.
it can be messy. it can be unhinged. it can have 47 placeholders named âidk something happens.â itâs fine.
3. perfectionism is just fear wearing a blazer.
write badly on purpose. humiliate your draft. it builds character (yours).
4. word count culture is a scam.
you are allowed to write 200 words and call it a day. you are allowed to write 5k and then disappear into the void for three business weeks.
5. google docs autosave WILL betray you.
download backups. then back up your backups. then sacrifice a pen to the writing gods idk.
6. description is not pretty synonyms.
itâs specificity. the torn movie ticket in their pocket. the buzzing light in the hallway. the chipped nail polish on their thumb. write the thing not the aesthetics around the thing.
7. dialogue isnât two Shakespeare ghosts monologuing at each other.
interruptions. trailing off. people lying. people avoiding the truth. people saying âwhatever man.â let it get messy.
8. you donât need a whole map before you start.
sometimes you just need one character with one problem and the stupidest idea imaginable.
9. reading your old writing will make you cringe but also cry a little because wow you cared so much.
keep that version of you alive.
10. donât wait to âbe good.â
you get good by writing the stuff you think is embarrassing.
11. also: nine out of ten times, your âbadâ idea is actually the one that goes feral and grows teeth and becomes your WIP.
12. hydrate.
no further explanation.
ok thatâs it because if i keep going iâll start confessing things about the time i wrote a whole novel in 2017 that will never see daylight again.
reply if u relate or if u too have 87 abandoned document fragments in your google drive.
andulkaphoto
prguitarman
kianamaiart
gummygunk
izzy806
theartofmadeline
