February 8, 2015

how to write things.


“Alas, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.”
But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. // JEREMIAH 1:6-7

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1. write.
2. don't stop, just write.
3. even if it is weird.
4. even if you don't like it.
5. even if it is dumb and juvenile.
6. write, more.
7. no, stop editing.
8. just put one word after another.
9. a little more.
10. you need some tea now.
11. don't take long, you still need to write.
12. drink your tea.
13. write some more.
14. stop rewriting that chunk of dialogue from 2013.
15. write.
16. put on some music.
17. maybe some tchaikovsky; maybe some nirvana.
18. and keep making sentences.
19. yes, it is very bad, but write it anyway.
20. yes, you will look back on it and cringe, but write it anyway.
21. yes, it needs work, but not now.
22. write some more.
23. drink your tea.
24. write some more.
25. drink your tea.
26. write some more.
27. drink your tea.
28. write some more.
29. write some more.
30. you can stop now; you're done.
31. you have a skeleton now.
32. it's a nice skeleton; kind of bare.
33. and frightening.
34. but you're not finished.
35. you have to weave flesh on that skeleton.
36. you can edit now; you're weaving.
37. you're sculpting.
38. sculpt some more.
39. you can fix that now.
40. it's strengthening; it's growing.
41. weaving flesh; sculpting muscle.
42. it's looking pretty.
43. you're finished now.
44. well done.
45. it's beautiful.


13 comments:

  1. Lovely post (I always drink tea anyway, but thanks for the tip)!

    Abby! Remember me? I don't want to name names, but we collabed on one of your...older blogs. The name Feather might ring a bell. :) Nice to see that you're still blogging.

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    Replies
    1. FEATHER!!! wow, it's great to hear from you again. i love your blog!!
      thanks for finding me again, dear! i'm getting a major wave of nostalgia from the warrior cat roleplay days now. good times.

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  2. I need to read this every day; every hour. every time i'm not sure about writing, i should read the wise words of abby. =) #7 is probably my biggest problem when writing, but hey - i'm learning

    p.s. dude, you WC roleplayed? the WC universe was my spare time life from like 2011-2013. now they're all kind of dead :(

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    Replies
    1. yes, i did!! i ran islandclan. it was my childhood/preteenhood. it was glorious. yes, it's a little sad how the roleplaying died off. people grew up, i suppose.

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  3. Tea must always go with writing. It is required. Books don't happen without tea

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  4. No way. The key to writing is to- WRITE??? ;) Lovely list and I couldn't agree more.

    Chloe | Curious Ramblings

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  5. Ditto to Chloe, we're actually supposed to write? Woah....that puts a whooole new perspective on it. =P Great tips and advice.

    - Autumn
    http://autumnreadsandwritesallday.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete