Good Writing Habits
A post about creative hygiene
I generally dedicate these posts to a long ramble about whatever topic has been noodling about in my head for the past few days (usually thanks to a discussion with Paul Jessup, or the folk over on the Underland Press Discord channel). Today however, I’m going to attempt something entirely new: several short rambles on a miscellany of habits that I think are helpful as you cultivate your creativity and writing career.
(OK, so maybe not ENTIRELY new, but “minimally different” didn’t sound as cool in the intro paragraph.)
1. Read
This is probably the single most important piece of writing advice out there. We learn to tell stories from other stories. Technically of course, this means you don’t have to read to consume stories. You can watch TV. You can watch movies. These days you can play video games. Hell, you can even watch sports and just pay attention to all the narratives playing out across the pitch and then seasons.
And, I would thoroughly advise doing all those things, mostly because they’re super fun, but also because, yes, they can teach you about telling stories.
However, if you are going to write stories, then reading other stories people have written is going to teach you the most. Because stories that are written down have a different shape and rhythm and content than a story on a screen or a soccer pitch. And learning what works on the page that doesn’t work anywhere else is very important.
Also, when you’re reading, you’re not just reading to learn the shape of stories. Reading is where you can pick up on things like style, and word choice, and what happens when paragraphs are long or short, and what dialogue looks like when it’s written down. Every book you read is a lesson in all the aspects of the craft whether you want it to be or not. So, read.
(And yes, audiobooks count as reading).
2. Ergonomics
OK, this may feel like a left turn, but the number of writers I know with carpal tunnel or repetitive strain injury is larger than I would like it to be, so honestly, this feels like an important one.
There are lot of diagrams on how to set up your space for success but the basics are:
Screen at eye-level. This generally means a second screen for those of us on laptops. But keep your neck straight, and don’t lean forward.
Elbows at a natural height. Basically you don’t want to be sitting there shrugging for an hour.
Wrists flat. This is a big one, especially for carpal tunnel. Adjusting your seat height is the biggest thing you can do here. You’re aiming to have your elbows at their natural height, so basically you need them in line with the top of the desk or table you’re using. And then the keyboard itself should be relatively flat. Don’t use those weird little legs at the back of the keyboard (and, yes, I know this is heresy to some, and I apologize for my blasphemy, but I swear this is important) because those will cause you to flex your wrists and put tension on nerves and tendons which will add up over the years
Is this an odd thing for me to be passionate about? Probably. But I get repetitive strain in my knuckles (of all the stupid places to get it) and it is a huge pain, involving arthritis gloves, taping my fingers, and dictation software. So, if you can avoid my dumb situation, do so.
3. Writing every day
Look, I know every writing site says this eventually, but it does bear repeating. The more you write, the better you will get at writing. Generally. OK, fine, it won’t be a straight path. Some days you will be worse. But generally the trend will be upwards, I swear.
You may have noticed that I have put “writing” below “reading.” I have done this intentionally. You will probably learn less from writing than from reading. Also, if you are reading this, you are probably either already writing a lot or you are my mother-in-law (hello!). So, hopefully I don’t have to tell you to write.
Another reason I have put “writing” third on the list is because I have some qualms about the “every day” part. Because it strikes me that assuming someone has time and energy in their day every day to write is perhaps a rather privileged position. And I don’t want anyone to think they can’t be a writer if they don’t write every day. Personally, I generally write about five days a week.
So, maybe rather than writing every day, it should be “create a schedule where you’re able to carve out some writing time whenever you’re able to.” I realize that isn’t so catchy, which is why it is probably less popular, but the idea is to make writing a habit, and to do it consistently. I generally think that the hardest part of writing is starting. It can be very easy to allow yourself to do easier things. So when you make writing a habit, it gets easier to put yourself in front of the blank page and cough up a couple of words.
4. Give yourself permission to be bad
It is worth bearing in mind that when you’re reading, you’re reading a finished product. You are seeing the tip of the iceberg, not all the sweat and tears and torn up drafts buried underneath.
Writing rarely emerges good. It usually emerges newborn and fumbling on foal-like legs. It needs to be refined, to have the bad pared away, and to have its best good parts reinforced. It needs to be reshaped and molded over and over. Basically, it needs to you to edit the shit out of it.
Accepting that writing is rewriting means that you can accept that the first draft may suck. Because you can always fix it. You can always go back and work on something, and polish it up. In fact learning how to polish something up is an incredibly important skill, so having bad things to polish is actually helpful on the writing journey.
To put it another way: during the first draft, don’t let the doubt get you.
5. Finish Him!
Received wisdom is that endings are hard. But also beginnings and middles are hard, so I’m not sure that’s helpful. However, endings have to behave in certain ways that beginnings and middles do not, and unless you finish your stories, you won’t get any practice at writing their endings. Plus, if once you’re done, you read over the whole thing and it’s terrible, then I refer you to point number four on this list: that’s OK. You can rewrite. Editing exists.
Now, there is a fine line here that I have perhaps hedged around, which is the law of diminishing returns. I generally believe that with enough time and effort any piece of writing can be made good, but… is the juice worth the squeeze? Do you want to invest the time in getting this particular piece of writing good, or would your time be more productively spent starting something new?
That’s honestly a very difficult question to answer, and only you will be able to answer it. And you’ll only be able to answer it accurately if you’re honest with yourself about why you want to move on. If you just don’t want to do the hard thing… maybe that’s not a good reason to quit. Although… maybe it is? Maybe there are enough hard things in life, and writing doesn’t need to be one of them. Again, only you can decide that. Only you can say why you’re writing in the first place.
Look, in the end, this is all just the opinion of a man on the internet. There are a lot of us. We have a lot of opinions. If this is helpful, that’s awesome. If it’s not, move along, nothing to see here.
Except for the ergonomics stuff. Get your set-up straight. Seriously.
Thank you for reading Something’s a Little Off. Fun fact: I have a novella coming out on September 15th. You can pre-order it today.