Don’t lament so much about how your career is going to turn out.
You don’t have a career.
You have a life.
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You are a writer because you write.
Keep writing and quit your bitching.
Your book has a birthday.
People who have never published anything selling courses on how to make a career as a writer.
Terribly written Medium articles telling you how to improve your prose.
Marketing books from writers who not only havent sold many booksbut their own marketing books dont sell.
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All this bad advice adds up and makes a harder thingan already difficult industry to navigateeven harder.
I got valuable lessons from each one.
I hope you learn as much from them as I did.
I have 2-3 cups of coffee.
I read and read and read for two hours.
Then I might read the literary fiction some more.
At some point, I get the urge or the itch to put the books away.
I go to my computer and start to write.
Do Not Chase Exotic Locations to Write
It was a time everyone was pressing wonderful houses on us.
I have a perfectly marvellous house for you to write in, theyd say.
Of course no one needs marvellous houses to write in.
I still knew that much.
All you needed was one room.
But somehow the next house always beckoned.
I just keep on doing it, until I cant think of further improvements.
I dont pretend this is efficient.
The first pass is when you write the best chapter you might.
During this pass, I come back to the chapter on my computer and cut and tighten.
The final pass is when I read through a printed version of the chapter on paper.
Reading on paper is necessary if youre going to root out odd constructions or minor errors.
What do you do about the cramps?
I was noticing they hit my in the gut usually at the three or four mile mark.
I thought hed have some great advice on how to avoid them altogether.
In fact, I assumed this was the case.
His answer surprised me, though.
What do I do?
I keep running, and eventually they go away.
I run through the cramps.
What do I do when I feel blocked?
I write through the block.
Earmuffs are like a signal to my brainOkay, focus!
On planes, I often wear noise canceling headphones.
You dont have a career.
You have a life.
You are a writer because you write.
Keep writing and quit your bitching.
Your book has a birthday.
You dont know what it is yet.
Sometimes if youre just in a bad mental place, it doesnt matter what work you put in.
You have to fix bigger things than your writing.
Hari Kondabolu, the comic who theNew York Timescalled one of the most necessary political comedians working today.
A 9-by-12-inch artists sketchpad.
This has been my great revelation.
Plus, it gives me an excuse to buy fancy mechanical pencils.
Its All Material
Im never not working on material.
Every second of my existence, I am thinking, Can I do something with that?
[By the way, this adviceechoes a phrase Ive learned from author Robert Greene, Its all material.
Jerry Seinfeld,creator ofSeinfeldand named by Comedy Central the 12th Greatest Stand-up Comedian of All Time.
Thats what I do.
I make a change and then I read the whole piece to see how it works.
But I cant do that with a book, so I have to find other ways to stay oriented.
I also make a huge effort to commit as much of the book as I can to memory.
Aaron Thier, author ofMr.
[This is not unlike many other writersincluding Murakami and Malcolm Gladwellwho use running as a coping mechanism.]
Ive been writing in my head long before I sit down at the keyboard.
In fact, I sometimes start inadvertently, by describing to someone what Im doing.
Conversation often crystallizes my own thinking far more effectively than solitary reflection.
What words will express it?
What image or idiom will make it clearer?
Is this image fresh enough to have an effect?
Then finish with these final two questions: Could I put it more shortly?
Have I said anything that is avoidably ugly?
I dont do that.
I treat writing a lot more like architecture.
That would be ridiculous.
As the old saying goes: Measure twice, cut once.
You may not be able to solve the problem, but turn aside and write something else.
Do not stop altogether.
For me, writing is a craft that needs constant honing.
As a former musician and former speechwriter, I definitely write for the ear.
I listen to music all the time for inspiration and energy.
I tend to make playlists as the sound track for writing different books.
They serve as snapshots in time.
As soon as he gets up, he goes to his office and starts writing.
Hes still in his pajamas.
He works for an hour or two and then goes to brush his teeth.
I have a very similar approach.
Only I brush my teeth before I start.
I guess thats my pre-writing ritual.
