i probably shouldnât do this. i definitely shouldnât, actually. i do it anyway. i write a substack piece all in one go then i take a breath and hit âpostâ before i give myself the time to read it over. i think if i didnât do this i would never post anything cuz iâd be stuck in an endless loop of redrafting.
writing to get it out into the world is enough of an intention for me. if i were to be any more careful in my practice i doubt anything would get written at all.
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setting a timer for ~20 minutes and just writing without stopping until the timer goes off is *really* good - because at the end of it you have a draft you can revise, which i think is easier and feels a lot more like making progress than emotionally preparing to write something you might not like.
dan harmon has this quote that i think was really helpful to getting me to see the value of just getting the reps in (without all the self-loathing):
*âMy best advice about writerâs block is: the reason youâre having a hard time writing is because of a conflict between the GOAL of writing well and the FEAR of writing badly. By default, our instinct is to conquer the fear, but our feelings are much, much, less within our control than the goals we set, and since itâs the conflict BETWEEN the two forces blocking you, if you simply change your goal from âwriting wellâ to âwriting badly,â you will be a veritable fucking fountain of materialâŚProve it. It will go faster. And then, after you write something incredibly shitty in about six hours, itâs no problem making it better in passes, because in addition to being absolutely untalented, you are also a mean, petty CRITIC. You know how you suck and you know how everything sucks and when you see something that sucks, you know exactly how to fix it.â*
Mar 22, 2024
Wring out your half-baked ideas, publicly when possible.
Write it even though itâs not your desired style.
Finish the bad stuffâespecially the bad stuffâexperience your own bad taste firsthand. Exorcise the demons.
Feb 21, 2024
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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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no itâs not dirty cuz i donât get crumbs everywhere when i eat!! i feel so grounded and at one with everything around me simply because i am not limiting myself to the dining table. iâm eating in bed as i type this.
Dec 24, 2024
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i was listening to this song on soundcloud and reading the comments and one of them said âgod i want this to be played at my funeralâ. since then i havenât felt the same whenever i listen to it. maybe itâs because the lyrics are what iâm scared the end will be like, or because itâs slow enough that i wonât be rushing through all the memories.
i wrote a substack post about this. cos i can never shut up lol.
Dec 23, 2024
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Dec 24, 2024