
How Professional Writers Write - dpatru
http://calnewport.com/blog/2007/10/15/monday-master-class-how-to-schedule-your-writing-like-a-professional-writer/
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jfornear
I think the biggest obstacle for aspiring artists is not scheduling, energy,
location, etc., but the perfectionist mindset. In my experience, it's easy to
become paralyzed by trying to create the final product from the start.

It's this mindset that leads people to start thinking things like: "If only I
had a cabin in the woods somewhere with a nice espresso machine, I could
really do this right."

I once had to write a first draft of a full-length screenplay (160+ pages) for
a screenwriting class I took for fun. Our professor made it clear that we
shouldn't worry about our scripts sucking because he was 100% sure that they
would.

Once you accept that your art will suck in its early drafts/stages, you can
focus on cooking out ideas/material to start improving upon. This will be so
easy that you will want pen and paper, recording equipment, camera, etc. with
you all the time.

~~~
jseliger
The perfectionist mindset isn't just an obstacle for artists -- it also can be
for programmers, engineers, and others. I actually wrote a post about it
called "The Perils of Perfectionism" (see
[http://blog.seliger.com/2008/01/16/the-perils-of-
perfectioni...](http://blog.seliger.com/2008/01/16/the-perils-of-
perfectionism/) ), which I just submitted to HN:
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=778408> .

The basic problem is that almost any creative process is iterative and
recursive. When you think it has to be perfect the first time through, it by
definition can't be. You've set yourself up in a loop with no exit conditions.
Get to the rest of the program.

~~~
wallflower
The best essay on writing I've ever read (by a NYT bestselling author)

"Some Thoughts on Writing"

<http://www.elizabethgilbert.com/writing.htm>

"Magazines, editors, agents - they all employ young people making $22,000 a
year whose job is to read lots of manuscripts and send back letters telling
you that you aren't good enough yet: LET THEM DO IT. It's their job. Don't
pre-reject yourself." -Elizabeth Gilbert

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grellas
Solid writing comes from hard work and there is no shortcut on this.

Successful professional writers are amazingly disciplined (even Hemingway, for
all his boozing, had a strict regimen of rising early and writing for many
hours first thing, day in and day out).

For non-fiction, good writing correlates strongly with sharp thinking -
meaning, thinking topics through carefully to be able to offer important
insights that others have missed, understanding context so as to put things in
a format, and in a style, that is strongly aimed at those who will be reading
it, and having a deep reservoir of technical proficiency from which to draw so
as to phrase things sharply and vigorously.

And write, write, write. William Zinser once used an illustration about an
exchange between a writer and a brain surgeon where, in response to the
surgeon's casual reference to doing "a little writing on the side," the writer
gave as a riposte the thought that he would do a "little brain surgery on the
side" as well. The point: we all think we can write because we all do it, but
quality writing comes only through hard work, severe discipline, careful
thought, and lots of practice - just like brain surgery.

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cstross
Cautionary note of warning here: as Larry Wall observed, "there's more than
one way to do it."

Alternatively: if anyone tells you there is one true way of writing ... then
they're a charlatan.

(I speak as a professional writer, on the basis of (a) personal experience and
(b) knowning a bunch of other professional writers.)

~~~
Shamiq
Accelerando is amazing.

(I speak as a Sci Fi fan).

~~~
Estragon
"Lobsters" was amazing. _Accelerando_ dragged a bit and could have used some
more aggressive editing toward the end.

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RyanMcGreal
When I'm writing an essay, I generally do the following:

* Research a lot of stuff on it, including things that seem orthogonal or at best tangential. Interview people, chase down primary sources, etc. Keep an eye out for _surprises_ (in the Paul Graham sense [1]): new information that expands, challenges or outright debunks something I believe about the topic.

* Free-associate and try to tease out some dimensions along which the information can come together.

* Gradually settle on a thesis that's strongly enough supported by the evidence for the type of writing I'm doing.

* Get a good night's sleep. (Crucial step - do not skip!)

* Write a draft in the morning when my mind is fresh and the system of supporting arguments and information is still present. This may take one or more mornings depending on the length of the paper.

* Edit and format the draft, insert references, etc. Then set the paper aside and do something else.

* A day later or so, edit the draft again to cut out the fat, streamline the structure, fix spelling and grammatical errors, and so on.

* If it's intended for publication somewhere, give it to a friend to review.

* Make final edits and then submit.

Obviously, the size and complexity of this exercise depends on how big the
subject is and how long the essay is going to be.

[1] <http://www.paulgraham.com/essay.html>

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euroclydon
Any advice for full-time software developer, father-of-two young-children,
aspiring (non-fiction) writers?

~~~
jamesbritt
Write.

~~~
RyanMcGreal
In the morning.

~~~
joe_the_user
While the article showed more writers wrote in the morning, I don't think the
sample size was large enough to be especially significant.

In contrast, all the writers did something to isolate themselves. That seems
more concrete and clear advice....

I should sign off NOW!

~~~
abecedarius
I read a study of classical piano students. The best ones, who were expected
to become pros, all practiced in the morning; and there was some practice at
other hours -- the same pattern, as far as I can remember. The good but less
elite students also tended to work in the morning, but with more variance and
less total practice. (This was one of those studies about the 10,000-hour rule
and deliberate practice -- I think there were some refs to studies of other
fields showing similar practices.)

Everyone needs to find what works best for themselves, but I'm pretty sure now
I was just being macho when I thought I did best at night.

------
dzlobin
Makes me wonder how I've never thought to look into that while I was writing
15 page papers all the time.

~~~
RyanMcGreal
Too busy cranking out 15 page papers.

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antidaily
"Where Do Professional Writers Write?" certainly matches up with Roald Dahl's
writing space: <http://boingboing.net/2009/02/13/roald-dahls-writing.html>

~~~
Luc
Many, many more here: <http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/series/writersrooms>

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shalmanese
For me, my best writing happens when I've procrastinated away the day and I'm
on the verge of falling asleep and I'm fighting tiredness as I write. I've
tried so many other ways but that's the most conducive environment to get me
into flow.

Unfortunately, this means that half the time, I end up falling asleep before I
get into that zone.

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mannicken
For me, the time between 2am-6am is the absolute peak of concentration: for
writing, coding, thinking, anything.

The time between 2pm and 6pm is the absolute peak of cognitive weakness. The
only thing I do well in that time is sleep. It's like a dead zone.

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petercooper
More specifically how _10_ professional writers write.

Note some the advice is so general as to be useless. Plenty of professional
writers write at night. Plenty of professional writers write in public spaces
(just about almost any newspaper writer, for a start).

The observations made are interesting but don't really fall under "advice" any
more than copying the writers' bowel or eating habits would.

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jamesjyu
For me, design is the same way. When I need to design something from scratch,
or look at a current web design from a different angle, I like to be isolated
and full of coffee (or red wine) -- free of distractions.

For coding, on the other hand, I don't really mind distractions.

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jrockway
I write at night. I don't think I've ever written anything of value in the
morning.

