Here’s a simple, but powerful writing exercise that’s helped me tremendously with my daily writing habit. Pick one of your favorite passages from one of your favorite books. Read it. And then rewrite it; try to make it better than the original. You will fail. That’s ok. An exercise is not about the end result. … Read more
If you study the writing habits of famous authors, you’ll find that they differ substantially, often even contradict each other. But the one thing they all had in common? They did have a daily writing habit. And if you’re serious about writing, then you need one too. But developing your own writing habit is no … Read more
It’s hard to be successful at writing even if you’re a talented writer. It’s much harder when don’t even have talent. Here’s a passage by Haruki Murakami, one of the most successful Japanese writers of our times for all the talentless writers: […] writers who aren’t blessed with much talent — those who barely make the grade — need … Read more
Sometimes life takes a turn for the worse. Sometimes an indisputably ugly reality punches you in the face and breaks your bloody nose. Your first instinct might be to break down, to give in to all those intense emotions that flash over you. To just shout fuck all this, and get fucked up. Flush out … Read more
I’m always fascinated by the interplay of reality and fiction, and how the best fiction sometimes seems more real than reality. Reading these words by Ernest Hemingway on the subject were fascinating to me: When you first start writing stories in the first person if the stories are made so real that people believe them … Read more
Here are Henry Miller’s 11 writing commandments. He’s written these not to advise other writers, but purely for himself to remember: 1. Work on one thing at a time until finished.2. Start no more new books, add no more new material to “Black Spring.”3. Don’t be nervous. Work calmly, joyously, recklessly on whatever is in … Read more
“Is the writing process fundamentally lonely?” is a question Lex Fridman asked Steven Pressfield in an interview. I loved his answer: No, because you’re with your characters. […] My desk used to face the wall, and people would say: Don’t you want to look out the window?” But I’m in here, I’m seeing the spartans. … Read more