Wish to become a pro writer one day? Sometimes, you need to run before you can walk!
The Marvel cinematic universe and the Iron Man generation must be quite familiar with this seemingly offhand remark by Iron Man (aka Tony Stark) but there is quite a witty and deeply philosophical meaning in it.
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There are basically two ways to become a writer (or any other creative person, in fact) - the William Shakespeare's way and the John Grisham's way or speaking in simple terms, the perfectionist's way and the average dude's way.
You can either be that perfectionist who waits for the inspirational beauty of words and poetry to flow through their genius subconscious or you can be that practical dude who simply goes ahead and keeps writing indiscriminately until perfection and inspiration come through on their own!
This is what writers like John Grisham do. They keep churning out stuff, one novel after another or one poem after another or one short-story after another without worrying about things like perfection. And on the other hand, there are geniuses like JK Rowling who churn seven masterpieces of Harry Potter in their entire lifetime - only seven but acclaimed masterpieces, the kind of which you'll find nowhere else.
Both are quite wonderful ways of writing and I admire those who strive for perfection. But honestly, the majority of us average writers aren't of that kind. If you look at the typical employee who churns out regular stories for Tech Crunch or Gizmodo, or that freelance blogger dude who keeps posting something on his/her blog day in and day out aren't any perfectionists. They simply cannot wait for for years for inspiration to come on its own like William Shakespeare or JK Rowling did, they've got to churn out a story in the next few hours to keep their jobs.
For this average dude's kind of writing, following the Iron Man's formula is the best advice! Most of the time, what we call writer's block is basically the fear of judgment or procrastination that's stopping us. The problem is that every writer aspires to be a Shakespeare or a Rowling and then ends up judging herself by that standard. But why not change goalposts and aim low for a while? Why not step into the shoes of that lowly blogger, writing would become so much easier then!
If you aim low, there is no need for beauty or perfection to flow from your words and sentences, you can write indiscriminately, without any fear, without any judgments! Just follow the mantra of write, write and write and nothing can stop you from success!
Sometimes, you need to run before you can walk.
You can either be that perfectionist who waits for the inspirational beauty of words and poetry to flow through their genius subconscious or you can be that practical dude who simply goes ahead and keeps writing indiscriminately until perfection and inspiration come through on their own!
This is what writers like John Grisham do. They keep churning out stuff, one novel after another or one poem after another or one short-story after another without worrying about things like perfection. And on the other hand, there are geniuses like JK Rowling who churn seven masterpieces of Harry Potter in their entire lifetime - only seven but acclaimed masterpieces, the kind of which you'll find nowhere else.
Both are quite wonderful ways of writing and I admire those who strive for perfection. But honestly, the majority of us average writers aren't of that kind. If you look at the typical employee who churns out regular stories for Tech Crunch or Gizmodo, or that freelance blogger dude who keeps posting something on his/her blog day in and day out aren't any perfectionists. They simply cannot wait for for years for inspiration to come on its own like William Shakespeare or JK Rowling did, they've got to churn out a story in the next few hours to keep their jobs.
For this average dude's kind of writing, following the Iron Man's formula is the best advice! Most of the time, what we call writer's block is basically the fear of judgment or procrastination that's stopping us. The problem is that every writer aspires to be a Shakespeare or a Rowling and then ends up judging herself by that standard. But why not change goalposts and aim low for a while? Why not step into the shoes of that lowly blogger, writing would become so much easier then!
If you aim low, there is no need for beauty or perfection to flow from your words and sentences, you can write indiscriminately, without any fear, without any judgments! Just follow the mantra of write, write and write and nothing can stop you from success!
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