Writing Like Actually Getting Words Onto Paper
Writing is a series of small burst of rushing water, a thousand words pouring out of me in a very short period of time.
Writing is day dreaming, when no words come at all. The rushing water has stopped, the creek dry and crackling.
Writing is using your own voice and avoiding sounding important or intellectual. Writing is real.
Writing happens in the morning for me. I imagine my brain is still excited about the day in the morning, and like sushi, degrades the further it gets from sleep. I should look into napping. You should find the part of the day you are most creative, and write then. AB test it. Trial and error.
Tools
Many developers spend days, weeks even, on getting the correct Tool. I have used Pages, Desk.pm, IA Writer, Scrivener, and more authoring tools I can remember. They do not do the work for you, and in general do not make anything easier.
You can also spend days, and weeks, on your toolkit to transfer your words into an ebook format. Or, your site’s marketing website.
But here’s the truth: you are ignoring the part that matters: getting words out of your brain and onto ‘paper’. Stop with the tools, and just write. Use softcover or leanpub - both will create a page for you so you can focus on the writing.
Fiddling with tools instead of writing is wankery distraction.
Timeline of a chapter
- Day 1: write an outline of an article or chapter
- Day 2: fill in the outline
- Day 3: edit the first chapter
- Day 7+: revisit and read with a clean mind. I’ll find that I find I didn’t say all I thought I had said. Or, I’ll find typos clear as day that my mind wouldn’t let me see the previous week.
I’m currently putting my ideas on writing into action creating Tex Mex Consulting. Some of my favorite articles: