I came to my local coffee shop to write a paper, but then I remembered that I find it really hard to write around other people. As a writer, I tend to talk to myself. I also feel like I need to read things out loud constantly. This is particularly challenging when I’m writing longer pieces — reading twelve pages of work out loud requires a lozenge — but it’s part of my “process.” I probably don’t reflect on this as much as I should.

So instead of writing my paper, I feel like writing about writing.

Back when Tumblr threw me on the Tumblr Radar — and I found myself with well over a thousand new followers — I received a bunch of super friendly messages in my Ask inbox from new readers. They were, by and large, mostly about how I write, and I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t even slightly satisfying to connect with so many people interested in seeing more textual content on Tumblr. I’ve always felt pretty sure there were a lot of frustrated writers (and readers) in this community; there is almost certainly someone reblogging a minimalist movie poster — right now! — while they work up the nerve to say something. (He or she will, sadly, infinitely put this off.) Writing is, for a lot of very smart people, something they will eventually “learn” how to do, something they’re “no good” at, something they’d do if they were “smarter.”

If you are one of those people, I want to take the time to tell you that doubting yourself is bullshit.

Kfan recently put together a list of “things that have been helping” — things that encourage, rather than impede his writing process — and I personally find these kinds of lists helpful to me. I started to think about my own “process,” which I always seem to air-quote because it seems awfully pretentious to admit that I have one, and it felt like a good idea to share it here. There is no right or wrong way to get inspired or get started, but I hope you’ll borrow or steal any ideas that you might find useful — as long as you are putting words on the page.

1. Read. The first thing I do before I write is read. It usually helps to read something that is in the genre I actually plan to use — a magazine if I’m writing like a journalist, a short story if I’m writing like a novelist, a scholarly piece if I’m writing like an academic — and it always helps to do this in total silence. This is how I get “in the mood.”
2. Write the first thing that comes to your head. I don’t think I’ve ever kept a first sentence, so it seems insane to belabor the point. I usually write about a page before I even know what I’m talking about; if I keep three sentences from that first page, it’s a success.
3. Instrumental music. I can’t write if someone else is putting words in my mouth. It’s impossible. So if I listen to music at all, it’s usually wordless — Ryuichi Sakamoto, Max Richter, or some kind of minimal German techno. Oddly, I find a constant kick drum at approximately 120 beats per minute cognitively soothing.
4. Read out loud. I mentioned this before, but it’s really important to me. Reading things aloud is the only way to check your flow; it’s the only way to know if your writing sounds like you. I feel pretty confident, at this point, that I have a “voice.” Reading my work out loud confirms whether or not I’ve used it.
5. If there’s something on the page that makes you uncomfortable, keep it. If something is on my mind, and it’s present enough to come out onto the page, it’s worth exploring. I’ve put myself into vulnerable positions writing about uncomfortable things, but I’ve never regretted it. (Yet?)
6. Finish and move on. I’ve published hundreds of thousands of words at this point. By sheer probability, the majority of them are far from literary gold. But the really good stuff — the things I’m most proud of — could never have happened without all the rest. Writing is, whether you admit it or not, a numbers game. So if you ignore everything I’ve said up to this point, remember this: You will not write anything truly memorable if you’re afraid to write something forgettable.

Photo: Mallix