Showing posts with label Three Hard Truths About Writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Three Hard Truths About Writing. Show all posts
Three Hard Truths About Writing
The First Hard Truth
Writing is a craft, as well as an art, and that craft takes time to develop. Forget genius, forget inspiration. It takes time measured not in weeks or months, but years. Hemingway said, "Write a million words." He wasn't kidding.
The Second Hard Truth
Every time a writer sits down to write, it's new.
A wise writer knows this, and revels in it. So that, ultimately, regardless of your years of experience as a writer, or your level of success, you come to the blank page (or screen) with anticipation for what you'll discover, in effect, as a beginner.
To quote Suzuki's famous advice; "In the beginner's mind, there are many possibilities; in the expert's mind, there are few."
The Third Hard Truth
Writing carries no guarantees.
You can never know how a piece of writing will turn out --
whether it'll be any good, whether anyone will like it, whether it will ever be sold. Writing, to put it flatly, is all about risk.
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