StorySellerPro

Question:

I’ve seem to be hitting writer’s block far too often now. My grade in my creative writing class is suffering because i don’t turn in anything because I’m never really satisfied with anything I do. All my good ideas seem to turn into bad ones once I write it down.

Answer:

You turn off your inner critic. You do not listen to your inner police force. You ignore the little voices that tell you that it’s all stupid, and you keep going.

Your grade isn’t suffering because your writing is bad, it’s suffering because you aren’t finishing things and handing them in.

So, finish them and hand them in. Even if a story’s lousy, you’ll learn something from it that will be useful as a writer, even if it’s just “don’t do that again”.

You’re always going to be dissatisfied with what you write. That’s part of being human. In our heads, stories are perfect, flawless, glittering, magical. Then we start to put them down on paper, one unsatisfactory word at a time. And each time our inner critics tell us that it’s a rotten idea and we should abandon it.

If you’re going to write, ignore your inner critic, while you’re writing. Do whatever you can to finish. Know that anything can be fixed later.

Remember: you don’t have to be brilliant when you start out. You just have to write. Every story you finish puts you closer to being a writer, and makes you a better writer.

Blaming “Writer’s Block” is wonderful. It removes any responsibility from the person with the “block”. It gives you something to blame, and it sounds fancy.

But it’s probably more honest to think of it as a combination of laziness, perfectionism and Getting Stuck. If you’re being lazy, don’t be. If you’re being a perfectionist, don’t be. And if you’re stuck, figure out where the story went off the rails, or what you got wrong, or where you need to go deeper, or what you need to add to make it work, and then start writing again.

-NEIL GAIMAN

Originally posted at http://neil-gaiman.tumblr.com/post/18848712919/reposted-as-something-that-can-be-reblogged-on.

WriMo-sidebar

Every November, hundreds of thousands take up the challenge of National Novel Writing Month (aka NaNoWriMo). The goal: write a 50,000 word novel in just thirty days and survive to tell the tale. If it sounds kind of crazy it’s because it is.

Most give up along the way (last year only 14% finished), but a handful grind it out to the bitter end. They’re the ones who don’t know any better, frankly—the diehards with no Quit in them.

I was a “Wrimer” once so I believe in the value of programs like NaNoWriMo. They challenge reluctant writers to take a chance and see what they’re made of–people like me who discovered a talent I wasn’t confident I had.

So I contacted the fine folks at the Office of Letters and Light, the non-profit behind NaNoWriMo, with a proposal: I wanted to create a survival guide of sorts of this year’s Wrimers and donate the profits to them to help support their writing programs.

They said, “Yes!” I went to work. @WriMo: A 30-Day Survival Guide for Writers is the product of that love labor.

SO, WHAT IS IT?

@WriMo is an ebook organized into short daily readings–think blog-length snippets like you find here on StorysellerPRO. It’s crammed with inspiration, writerly wisdom, and the occasional kick in the moneymaker designed to keep the budding novelist’s head in the game. There’s a reading for every day of NaNoWriMo, but the topics are relevant enough to be used beyond November.

What you won’t find is a bunch of “how to’s” on the craft. This is NOT a reference guide for learning how to write a novel. This is a 30-day supply of whoop a** for aspiring writers intent on running the gauntlet of National Novel Writing Month.

@WriMo releases OCTOBER 1 for all e-reading devices and will be available for $4.00. Even if you don’t own a Kindle, iPad, or other e-reading device, you will still be able to read it via your favorite reading app. And for the app-averse, it will also be available as a PDF.

I’M GIVING MONEY AWAY!

This is creative philanthropy and 100% of the profits will be donated to The Office of Letters and Light to keep their programs going. They are a fairly small organization and rely on the kindness of friends and strangers to keep going. This is one way you and I can help them out. You can barely purchase a latte at Starbucks for $4.00, so this is good deal AND it does some good in the world.

WANT TO GET IT FREE? JOIN THE @WriMo LAUNCH TEAM

I’m looking for a small group of people who will roll up their sleeves and help spread the word about @WriMo.

Here’s what’s in it for you:

A free, electronic review copy of the book before publication (Kindle, iPad, Nook, or PDF)
Exclusive access to me during NaNoWriMo via a private Facebook Group.
A special thank you shout out on StorysellerPRO with a linkback to your website or blog

LAUNCH TEAM REQUIREMENTS

Write a brief book review on Amazon or some other e-tailer site.

Help spread the word about the book in any way you can, to your existing platform and beyond, during the week of October 1st.

Share ideas and brainstorm additional ways we might further expose the message to an even greater audience. All ideas are welcome.

Interested? Apply to be a part of the @WriMo launch team by emailing kevin@storysellerpro.com. Include your name, a link to your website or blog if you have one, and your Twitter handle (@you) if you have one. I will select up to 100 launch team members for this experiment. It’ll be fun and we just might make some history here.

In which Neil Gaiman discusses beating writer’s block