Some words of wisdom endure for all time.
This is as true for the art and craft of writing as it is for any other area of human endeavor.
So to begin this article I will borrow the single most important piece of advice you could ever wish to hear with regards to writing, if it is you goal to get the job done.
Don't get it right, get it written.
I used to wonder about this when I was in my perfectionist frame of mind, where everything that I wrote was never good enough.
I would write X number of pages, look back over it with a hyper-critical eye and condemn it to the rubbish pile.
1.
Always keep everything that you write.
It might seem useless to you.
That writing is just part of the essential practice that you must do in order to master the craft.
It may well not be the greatest prose on earth, but it will contain ideas, phrases and characters that you can use later on, to your productive benefit when you have reached an accomplished level.
2.
Writing is like drilling for oil.
You have to invest in the equipment (your labor) in order to tap into your deep reserves.
You can only do this by putting the hours in.
There will be setbacks.
There always are.
But as long as you keep drilling (writing) at some point you will strike it rich.
3.
You have to write the bad stuff out of your system.
Athletes are not made overnight.
World champion boxers are not champions because they worked part time.
They put the hours in.
They honed their bodies and their skills through a long process of trial and error.
Writing requires the same discipline.
In order to write something memorable, you have to accept that you will first write a lot which is forgettable.
You are just drilling, looking for the black gold inside and eventually you will find it.
But don't forget the crucial phrase: 4.
Don't get it right, get it written.
Finish the first draft and do not edit it until it is finished.
The second draft is the time to improve and expand your work.
When man landed on the moon, was that the first ever Apollo Mission? No, there were many before that one, where the scientists worked on the technology, repaired faults and generally honed their technical skills so that one day they would be ready to achieve their ultimate goal.
If you expect to get something right on the very first attempt, you are not being realistic.
Allow yourself to make mistakes.
Be dissatisfied with your initial efforts, go back afterward and make it even better.
For some rare geniuses, none of this applies.
But such people come along once in an eclipse.
The rest of us have to put in the graft and the sweat.
You can only get it right after you have written it.