

Write when inspired - tomh-
http://www.zeldman.com/2009/08/09/write-when-inspired/

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GiraffeNecktie
Meh. You want quality writing? Sit down at the same time every day, seven days
a week, and write continuously for two hours. It doesn't matter if you're
inspired or uninspired. There are a few gifted people who can dash off a
sonnet whenever the muse strikes, but the rest of us need practise, practise,
practise. It's the same if you want to be a great pianist. You have to play
every day. You have to play through the boredom and the blahs because it's
only after your technique becomes effortless - essentially disappearing - that
inspiration can truly be released.

~~~
trominos
This is at best tangential to what you're saying, but it's something I always
wonder about whenever I see a discussion about practicing writing: is there an
upper threshold to writing ability?

See, I've been writing in fairly substantial amounts for about the past seven
years. When I look at my old writing, it's clear that I improved _extremely_
rapidly for the first year or so, and there's noticeable (though less
pronounced) improvement for the next three or four years, but recently I think
I've plateaued -- I no longer write in quite the same way I did a year ago,
but I can't really distinguish between my writing then and now in terms of
quality.

What's more, I'm not sure I can see anywhere for my writing to go -- I feel
like I've maxed out my ability to appeal to my own aesthetic (in prose). And
the fact that that even seems possible is a little painful.

I have to go and don't have time to really finish saying whatever I'm saying
here. Have any of you ever felt like this? Have any of you ever gotten over
feeling like this?

~~~
GeneralMaximus
I actually feel my writing has deteriorated over the past few years. Part of
the problem might be my limited vocabulary. I can pick up new words
effortlessly as I encounter them, but I rarely manage to put them in use. I
spend a lot of time just looking for that _one_ word that could convey my
meaning succinctly, but I inevitably end up writing three sentences in place
of that one word.

I face a completely different problem when I'm writing for an audience (my
audience being the 3 people that read my blog). As I write this comment, words
are coming naturally to me, but they completely evade me when I sit down to
write a blog post. The result is a bunch of mediocre, incomplete blog posts in
my 'Drafts' folder.

Needless to say, I need practice. One of these days, I should take some time
off from writing code ...

~~~
adw
Vocabulary is overrated!

Simple words are the best words; if you can get your story across without
jargon, and have it remain compelling, then you've got a chance.

<http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/orwell46.htm>

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GavinB
There's a huge difference between writing "when the mood is on" and not
writing when you're exhausted. Zeldman seems to conflate the two in this
piece.

I find that inspiration comes from forcing my way through the first paragraph.
Usually after that point, I'm ready to go and can keep going to the point of
getting cranky if anyone interrupts me.

The strategy Zelman describes may work for him--he's published books so
clearly he's found a method that works. Still, I've seen these same arguments
used time and time again in order to justify procrastination, resulting in
nothing ever gets done.

Edit: Having written this, I guess I'm now obligated to go open up the ol'
word processor, huh?

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keanemachine
Sometimes it's good to push yourself when tired. In the book 'Founders at
Work' (Jessica Livingston), there's a chapter on Steve Wozniak where he says
that he hits a new creative gear when working on a problem for three days and
nights straight. Not directly related to writing well, granted, but an
interesting point nonetheless.

Incidentally, the only two things I actually liked doing in school were
writing short stories and drawing sketches. I would spend hours blissfully
writing or drawing when given it for homework, and it was never a chore. The
best ways to feed the imagination is to simply read, read, read. It's plain
and boring advice, but it works. I was lucky when young as I was always
encouraged to read, for many people my age (early twenties), reading is very
boring, but that's because they are poorly versed in it and have poor
imaginations as a result.

It's a cliche, but it's simple practise at anything that makes perfect -
apparently Tiger Woods gets up at an ungodly hour and practises for 5-6+ hours
every day; Tyson in his prime would get up and jog in the middle of the night,
and conducted a tough training regime other boxers wouldn't engage in. After
the last Olympics, Phelps famously said that all he does is "eat, sleep and
swim". There's only so far natural ability will take you after all.

