Trying is for Losers: The Worst Writing Advice Ever
So I was trolling around the web hoping to find an idea for a post, and what do you know? It worked. I found this article on flavorwire about terrible advice on writing, from famous authors. Go take a second to check it out if you want, because it's interesting. I really just want to focus in on are these two gems:
"Don’t be a draught-horse! Work with pleasure only.” — Henry Miller
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“Don’t try.” — Charles Bukowski
These two bits of crap represent the two biggest misconceptions I see among beginning writers-- namely, writing should be easy, and writing should be fun; if it stops being easy and fun, then you were just never meant to be a writer. Now, I suppose if you're just writing for the sheer craps and giggles of it, this is a little bit true. If your only goal is to entertain yourself, and writing stops being entertaining, by all means quit. Go pick up knitting or something. But if you're writing for the love of words, the love of the story, then let me remind you what love means: it doesn't mean that everything will magically be easy forever. Loving something doesn't mean it will always feel natural. Loving something doesn't even mean you'll always like it.
What love does mean is that you need something more than you want to give up on it. So if you love writing, but it's really hard work for you, congratulations! You are in the best literary company in the world.
Happy Thursday, and I hope you all have an awesome Memorial Day Weekend!
"Don’t be a draught-horse! Work with pleasure only.” — Henry Miller
&
“Don’t try.” — Charles Bukowski
These two bits of crap represent the two biggest misconceptions I see among beginning writers-- namely, writing should be easy, and writing should be fun; if it stops being easy and fun, then you were just never meant to be a writer. Now, I suppose if you're just writing for the sheer craps and giggles of it, this is a little bit true. If your only goal is to entertain yourself, and writing stops being entertaining, by all means quit. Go pick up knitting or something. But if you're writing for the love of words, the love of the story, then let me remind you what love means: it doesn't mean that everything will magically be easy forever. Loving something doesn't mean it will always feel natural. Loving something doesn't even mean you'll always like it.
What love does mean is that you need something more than you want to give up on it. So if you love writing, but it's really hard work for you, congratulations! You are in the best literary company in the world.
Happy Thursday, and I hope you all have an awesome Memorial Day Weekend!
Have you ever read any Bukowski?
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