How to Write

Weed, California, October 2008: Outside, it’s Autumn for sure. The air is crisp and chill, and I feel grateful to be in my room, where the morning sunlight falls in stripes through the venetian blinds upon the white-painted wall, and my desk lamp is a warm color here where I work.

I just entered a contest online with a copywriting guru, with a question about writing, and I jotted down for him what I know, and then asked the biggest question that I know.

So I thought: Lots of people don’t write, but it’s easy and fun. Maybe not everybody knows how. And actually, writing information or a story (or anything) is not actually that difficult, though many people think so.

So here, plain and simple, is how to write.

THE BASIC PROCESS OF WRITING

The whole trick, in my experience, is to have (a) some notes and rumination time, during which the subconscious will actually begin structuring useful stuff behind the scenes; (b) an outline can be helpful (mainly because it starts you working with the material); and (c) to sit down and start writing.

THE REPUTED “WRITER’S BLOCK” IS AN ILLUSION

If you discover yourself staring at a blank sheet of paper, and not writing, then either you may not have done your notes and rumination; or you must may be feeling a ‘block’ which is actually just a kind of perfectionist interference from your own mind where you’re actually thinking of things to say and rejecting every one as it comes.

The cure to getting past ‘blank sheet of paper’ is to get out of bed and before anything — no brushing teeth, no coffee — start writing any junk that comes into your head, related or not related, your dreams, your opinions, wild thoughts, any and every thought that comes to your head. After practicing writing stuff on paper, the block will vanish. This is a reliable cure. It’s the darndest thing.

HOW TO MAKE YOUR WRITING “GOOD”

When you sit down to write your main project, if you can’t write *good* stuff (in your opinion), then *blather* on paper. You can always (1) write any kind of garbage (in your opinion), and then simply (2) later take out all the crappy parts.

Once you have a mass of material, then simply the willingness to rewrite will reshape it into good stuff.

HOW TO KNOW WHAT’S “GOOD”

And although it’s not always possible to say what’s the *best* presentation, pretty much anyone can use the A-B method to ask themself, “Which is better? A? or B?” And you always get an answer to this kind of question (from the subconscious). You’ll also discover that the answer is reliable.

THERE IS NO BARRIER TO WRITING

Looked at this way, writing may take time, but there is no barrier. You will write stuff, and you will rewrite good stuff. It’s just that simple.

THE ONLY QUESTION TO BE ANSWERED

“What is the best way, or just a workable and reliable way, to choose exactly what to write?”

A simple question.

The Target for the Question: The piece of writing selected should (by definition in our situation) attain the goal that you have for writing anything in the first place. That is, what to write is a derivative of what is your goal in life, what is your goal in this situation.

Sometimes the answer to this question will be simple and clear and obvious.

Other times, perhaps not so.

But in that case, you can simply write about the question. Use the technique above.

Clarity will emerge.