HOW TO JUST GO FOR IT

I’m not even going to edit this blog, and I hate grammatical errors! I think I reread my blogs too much sometimes, checking for errors. I’m not even going read back through this one. And you’ll see why (if you can get past the typos).

James Scott Bell says, “Structure is the ‘translation software’ for the imagination.” What does that mean? Think about it. I often talk about structure and formats and processes, etc. In fact, Bell says that without structure we are not able to translate our imagination to the reader.

We have our worlds in our heads, but we don’t quite have a means to relay this information to anyone. Once we start implementing everything that we know about writing, only then will we be able to effectively communicate what’s in the noggin.

WATCH:
Less sae that I right uh sintense sumthin liek this.
(Let’s say that I write a sentence something like this).

I put the translation for those of you who were unable to cut through the gibberish. If we want to relay our message to the reader, we have to obey certain rules. Many of these rules I have outline over the course of this blog. What you just witnessed deals with spelling errors. A story has a lot more intricacies than just spelling, however.

We have to consider the 3 Act method, the man with whom we can connect, the credible villain, and the list goes on. The more layers we add, the more abstract our structure becomes.

That said, there’s something else that we have to consider: no structure. That’s right. Sometimes, as writers,

we have to cast off all restraint. We can often get too caught up with the “how-tos” that we don’t do what needs to be done.

Writing is a craft that needs to be perfected, and every bit of information that we can drink in will assist us with our art. But, if we are ever to get some black words on the white paper, we might just have to break free from the chains of structure and vomit out all the details that we can.

So what if your first draft is riddled with plot holes that are as dangerous as black holes? Who cares if your main character is as one-dimensional as well-drawn straight line? What difference does it make if your villain is just a bad guy because he’s bad? Let’s say your tone doesn’t match your mood, and your mood doesn’t match your language. Your timeline’s off and your environment is all but complete.

So what???? Write! We have to. Get the words on the page. Your first draft will never be perfect unless you’re God Himself. So now that you know that, go ahead and screw it up.

I know that sounds contrary to everything that I’ve written, but it’s not. Once the first draft is done, then you can go back and perfect the imperfections. But if you have nothing to fix, then you’ll never get off the ground.

You can do this! The world wants to hear the story that’s within you. I usually don’t write more than 500 words in blog, but I’m going to surpass that.

I read a statistic that propelled me forward.

90% of people who start writing never finish
(If you finish your WIP, you are already doing better than 90% of the people who started)

When I read that statistic, it pushed me forward — not because I wanted to be better, but because I didn’t want to listed amongst those who quit. Don’t you do it either! Keep writing!

Feed the fire. If you don’t have any ideas, open a dictionary and let your finger land on a word at random. Think of all of the possibilities that word brings to mind (suggested by James Bell). Go online and look for writing prompts. Look at a picture. Generate the engine.

Truth be told, if we are truly writers, we have a perpetual hamster spinning the wheel in our heads. We have to always be thinking of scenarios that could be book worthy. Still having trouble? Read books in your genre. Take ideas from that book and see if you can expand them or put a twist on them.