This exercise helps combat writer's block: Deliberately try to write the WORST possible draft imaginable. Often it'll come out as hilarious. It's very freeing to try to be the worst writer in the world. Because if it turns out to be crap, by golly, you suceeded!
I have never had writer’s block. My brother Steve, who has worked for decades in the Senate, told me that when he had a difficult phonecall to make, he would contemplate his discomfort while actually dialing the number. And then suddenly he was in it and moving through the difficulty. Whenever I have trouble starting an article or making a drawing, I get over it by writing the first sentence or making the first scribble. Both will need improving, but the mere act of beginning makes the ending inevitable. No ocean cruise necessary! But I’d love to do that particular cruise, anyway. Maybe I’ll fake writer’s block and see if Claire will ship me off.
Really entertaining. Some scholars object to her use of a modern rhythm, but to my unscholarly eye, it captures the sense that the old bard was trying to convey.
This exercise helps combat writer's block: Deliberately try to write the WORST possible draft imaginable. Often it'll come out as hilarious. It's very freeing to try to be the worst writer in the world. Because if it turns out to be crap, by golly, you suceeded!
I give similar advice to young writers. To write well, write badly. Then rewrite and rewrite.
I have never had writer’s block. My brother Steve, who has worked for decades in the Senate, told me that when he had a difficult phonecall to make, he would contemplate his discomfort while actually dialing the number. And then suddenly he was in it and moving through the difficulty. Whenever I have trouble starting an article or making a drawing, I get over it by writing the first sentence or making the first scribble. Both will need improving, but the mere act of beginning makes the ending inevitable. No ocean cruise necessary! But I’d love to do that particular cruise, anyway. Maybe I’ll fake writer’s block and see if Claire will ship me off.
It's not a cruise. It's a voyage.
I love it, thanks! Can't wait to read the book. Speaking of which I am currently reading Emily Wilson's translation of the Odyssey, which is AMAZING!
Really entertaining. Some scholars object to her use of a modern rhythm, but to my unscholarly eye, it captures the sense that the old bard was trying to convey.
Hey, what’s a “hypo,” anyway?
A hypo is a kind of fantod.