As James Baldwin said writing needs to arrive "to the bone": don't overthink it, don't overcomplicate it. You need to have something to say and for me it's essential to have a genealogy of cultural references to draw on from.
Lastly stop thinking to write a masterpiece no one has ever said b4 because I do think that's impossible. Stop worrying.
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I was told when I started that you just had to be disciplined and do it regularly until it’s as necessary for you as brushing your teeth.
I was also told the really good writing/insight happens after you’ve written the surface stuff away. Like you gotta write everything that comes to mind, throw that away, and then everything after that, which is usually much more difficult, is actually good journaling.
Apr 27, 2024
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I go into writers block when I am expecting something from myself- I don’t know if that’s your experience as well, but if so: any word that comes to mind is enough, any word that comes to mind holds meaning. Write down a disjointed thought you have, and the next, and the next. Let go of self-filtration. Your mind is producing what it needs to.
Feb 11, 2025
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I write lyrics/poems/prose/essays/the occasional substack/text based art/performance art and the most successful process I've found works for me is just 'hold a pen and hope that it happens'. I can't get any real ideas done on a laptop (my substacks are all drafted in bullet points by hand first). I don't write every day because I don't have the energy or time or enough that is important to say. I only write when I really get the urge in my fingertips and then I get my notebook and just open the page and get whatever out I can. Sometimes it's an idea I've been mulling over that finally comes out and others it's just nonsense sentences that eventually form something.
Basically my advice if you're struggling to get started is just whenever you think you want to do it, just hold a pen and a blank piece of paper and just do it. Maybe it'll be brilliant from the off. First lines are hard so don't worry about it if it's not, fourth lines are where it gets good. I definitely produce 70/30 shit/good writing and that's okay because who's reading it??
Also sometimes you go back a few months later and realise that what you thought was terrible was actually great all along it just needed a different context!
May 3, 2024
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Remember that you did everything you could in order to get through
give yourself grace and peace, drink water and do some big deep breaths.
Oct 4, 2024
Nov 5, 2024