The Writing Life: Learning Paralysis

Ah! That great feeling when we discover a new passion is awesome. We launch ourselves into research mode. Some of us before we take up the doing of our new obsession, some of us after we’ve gotten a taste of it. Being in thrall with writing can be as much a hindrance as a help. How long have you been dabbling? Are you stuck in learning mode?

If You Haven’t Started Writing Yet…

…you might be stuck in learning mode. More than one writing book in? More than five? That blank page can be daunting. Rest assured, there’s no wrong or right in writing. There’s only effective and ineffective. They only way to become an effective writer is to re-write the ineffective sentences, paragraphs and pages you’ve written.

Pick one method of plot-building that works for you. Outlining is valid, and so is just picking a starting point and putting words on the page. Use the snowflake or thought bubble methods. Write your concept down as one sentence in its most basic form, ie: Deaf kid meets space cat and shows the universe what music means to the human race. Whatever one method has appealed to you the most, implement it.

Then start with a single scene or one character’s thoughts, say, while she’s sitting on a swing in a city park. Just start.

If You Haven’t Finished Your First Draft…

…you might be stuck in learning mode. No one can learn ALL the things by writing one story or essay or novel. You might be reliably effective by your fifth. Or your tenth. No one’s perfect. There will always be something that could work better in your story for any given reader.

Wrapping up your “as polished as you can make it” story as the writer you are today will teach you more than lingering over an unfinished work ever will.  You’ll learn even more by starting a new one.

The writer you’ll be tomorrow will no doubt thank you.

If You Haven’t Shared Your Work Yet…

…you might be stuck in learning mode. Step away from the books on writing. From the ads for programs that will teach you “the secret” to hooks, description, climaxes for “only” X amount of dollars. From the emails that offer to “fix” your story if only you’ll commit to this subscription or join that forum.

Stop trying to find every passage that needs tweaking in your essay. Or trying to move your first turning point to exactly a quarter way into your novel. Or changing the ending to your short story every other day based on blog posts that state empirically how each genre or lit story “must” end.

Share your work with your writer friends. Believe me, they’ll offer up a golden nugget or two that will be useful…

…and a brick or two that won’t. But you’ll be able to use what works for you and throw away what doesn’t. How? Because all that learning has sunk in, whether you’re aware of it or not.

Now you just need to live it by writing. And writing some more. And sharing with real live people who aren’t you getting in your own way.

…here’s the real “secret”, “key”, “most important tool in your writer’s kit”:

You.

Writing.

Please share your thoughts on, or your experiences with learning paralysis. Join me on the first Friday of each month for exploration, discovery, and discussion of the writing life