What is it about a blank computer screen that just makes me freeze up? Give me a sheet of paper, and I will fill it and ask for another.
Last year, I read 200 books, and, frankly, it was too much. In 2023, my goal is to move beyond consuming to creating (sounds like a bumper sticker).
My Type A personality took over. I ordered some very studious writing books and already envisioned myself as a best-selling author by the end of the year.
Of course, I have actually written nothing this year.
To avoid the reading that I am not doing, I started using my time productively, looking at YouTube naturally, when I stumbled across some lectures by Brandon Sanderson. I guess if I am going to take writing advice by someone other than Philip Pullman, Brandon Sanderson will do.
Brandon Sanderson talked about how he wrote 13 novels before he finally sold any and that it takes about 10 years to finally perfect your craft of writing. When Sanderson was first starting out, he would write a novel, get better as he was writing the novel, and then write a new “better” novel. Things finally started to change for him when he started to revise his work.
Sanderson might be onto something here. Normally, I am so pressed for time that I throw my writing together, happy to read over it quickly for grammar and spelling errors once before submitting. However, today, I had to cut my writing piece down to 2,200 characters. Thanks, Instagram!
When I deleted phrases like, “we find that X”, the writing became a lot stronger.
When I look back over the time period where my writing was the strongest, I was writing constantly. Maybe my writing journey should begin with journaling instead of super lofty goals. I mean I have 10 years according to Brandon Sanderson, right?
If you made it this far, check out my bookish yammering on GoodReads!